Ex-prisons chief, founder of Boulder Airporter dies at 90

Frank Dell’Apa, an expert in the corrections field who headed the Colorado Prison Association and fell in love with the Rocky Mountain West, died this month at 90.

Dell’Apa also once led the corrections program for the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education in Boulder. He founded the Boulder Airporter shuttle, as well, becoming one of the early pioneers of such businesses in Colorado.

According to son Frank Jr., the patriarch died March 14 in New Orleans of heart failure.

After serving in the Navy during World War II, he was accepted to Stanford University. But on the way to California, he stopped to visit friends in Denver and changed his plans.

“He fell in love with (the city) because of the climate and just the opportunity to do all this stuff,” his son said. “He liked to play golf and ski. He got to love Denver really well.”

Dell’Apa enrolled at the University of Denver and received a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1951, then a master’s degree in criminology from the University of Notre Dame in 1955. He received a doctoral degree in special education from the University of Northern Colorado.

Dell’Apa, born in Hibbing, Minn., was also a probation officer for Denver.

He is survived by his wife — Edith — a daughter and three sons, as well as five grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

His family said arrangements for a memorial service are pending through the Neptune Society of Metairie, La.