Betty Freedman, pioneer of culture
Betty Freedman, a pioneer in women’s banking who helped shape many of Denver’s bedrock cultural institutions, died Tuesday at her home on Elm Street. She was 95.
Born in July 1922 in Denver, Freedman left a lasting mark on the city, leveraging her wide network of social contacts — including the former first lady of Colorado, Ann Love — to generate support for an array of civic causes, most notably the Denver Public Library and Denver Art Museum.
From a young age, Freedman loved to read — a passion that would lead to stints as a radio writer and a longtime book reviewer for The Denver Post.
But one of her most influential endeavors was her work with the Women’s Bank, which she helped found in 1978 with a group of other women.
At the time, most married women couldn’t have credit cards in their own name, or get a loan without help from their husband.
“We wanted them to be self-sufficient and capable on their own,” Freedman told The Post in a 2007 interview.
“My mother had no experience in banking — she was a writer,” said her son, Jonathan Freedman. “(But) she had great people skills and incredible contacts with movers and shakers, because she had been part of the small group of people that built the Denver Museum of Art, that got the Denver Public Library funded.
“She said ‘we really need someone who knows banking to head this up,’ ” he added. ” ‘We don’t just want this to be a bank for women, we want it to be a successful bank.’ “
So Freedman sent letters — on stationary that bore her husband’s name — to 10 prominent female business leaders across the country. Only one responded, but her fishing expedition caught the big fish she needed.
A titan of the banking industry, Mary Roebling, who was the first woman to ever run a major U.S. bank, flew in from New Jersey and signed on to help.
Today, the bank she helped start is known as the Colorado Business Bank, a multi-billion venture that got off the ground with 50 women chipping in $1,000 a piece.
The ease with which Freedman made connections opened doors throughout her life.
In the 1970s, she hosted a delegation of Chinese table tennis players during the era of “pingpong diplomacy” — an exchange of athletes that helped thaw relations between the U.S. and China.
Freedman was also the first Jewish board member for the local debutante ball, and Jonathan said she used her position to encourage diversity in an institution that was historically closed off to Jews and other minority groups.
Among family and friends, Freedman was known for her big heart.
When Jonathan was in high school, his best friend’s dad died.
Seeing a family in shambles, Betty and her husband, Marshall, who was a prominent local doctor, let Jonathan’s friend stay with them through his senior year in high school, then helped him go to college.
That friend went on to become a psychiatrist.
“His job is nurturing people who are in crisis,” Jonathan Freedman said.
“He’s told me on a number of occasions how much it meant for Betty to be his mother in terms of nurturing him.”
His friend wasn’t the only one his mother inspired.
“I hated reading, and I hated writing, and I became a journalist and writer,” said Jonathan, who won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing at the San Diego Tribune.
“I loved her so much.” Freedman’s funeral is set for 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Emanuel Cemetery at Fairmount.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Marshall Freedman, and a son, Douglas.
She is survived by her son, Jonathan Freedman; daughter, Tracy Freedman; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.