Boettcher Foundation celebrates Tim Schultz
Tim Schultz was no stranger to public service when, in 1995, he became president and executive director of the Boettcher Foundation.
The Grand Junction native had served as a Rio Blanco County commissioner before going on to become the state’s commissioner of agriculture, director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, and the first chairman of the Colorado Economic Development Commission.
A proud Coloradan through and through, Schultz also worked as a baker, a banker and a rancher on the Western Slope. He studied at Colorado Mesa University and completed his college education at Colorado State University.
So when it came time to plan his late August retirement party, those in charge knew that the proper sendoff would have to be a barbecue featuring foods that have helped put Colorado on the culinary map: Palisade peaches, Rocky Ford cantaloupes, Dove Creek beans, Durango chokecherries and Olathe sweet corn.
Three hundred people attended the by-invitation sendoff held at the Boettcher Cultural Pavilion in the Mcnichols Civic Center Building, celebrating the man Gov. John Hickenlooper described as “a man of big ideas and a man who has served his community loyally and diversely over the years.”
“Colorado was and is the perfect state for someone like Tim Schultz,” Hickenor looper said.
Additional tributes came from Katie Kramer, a former Boettcher Scholar who has succeeded Schultz as the foundation’s chief executive, and board of trustees chairman Russ George.
George, who is also a former Boettcher Scholar, served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1992-2000, becoming speaker of the house in 1999. He recently retired as president of Northwestern Community College.
Both Kramer and George recounted how under Schultz’s leadership the Boettcher Foundation, which had its start in 1937 and is one of Colorado’s largest philanthropic organizations, has seen its endowment grow from $171 million to more than $275 million and its scholarship program evolve from a simple tuition payment to a comprehensive program that encourages lifetime alumni engagement.
Nine hundred Boettcher Scholarships were awarded during Schultz’s tenure, and some 3,600 capital grants, totaling more than $2 million, were awarded.
In Schultz’s 22 years as president and executive director, the foundation also established the Webbwaring Biomedical Research Awards; the Boettcher Teacher Residency; Space to Create Colorado, a partnership with four other organizations to build arts-focused affordable housing and community space in rural Colorado communities; and Qualistar/clayton Investments, an accreditation and funding program for early childhood education centers.
Schultz thanked his guests by noting that “Everyone in this room has been a part of a nonprofit part of a foundation or part of something that relates to Colorado. And when people get together and do things together, great things happen. I’ve just been blessed and privileged to be a part of that along the way.”
Schultz’s wife, Debbie Jessup, their five children and eight grandchildren were among those at the party, joining a crowd that also included foundation trustees Ted Schlegel, Sharon Linhart, Don Woods, Paul Chan, Cile Chavez, Tony Frank, Kenzo Kawanabe, Greg Moore, Pam Shockley-zalabak and Judi Wagner.
Former trustees in attendance were Barry Hirschfeld, Bill Sorensen, Harris Sherman, Ann Penny and Christine Marquezhudson, who is now the Denver Foundation’s chief executive.
Other nonprofit leaders there included Renny Fagan (Colorado Nonprofit Association); Thayer Tutt and Matt Carpenter (El Pomar Foundation); Joanne Kelley (Colorado Association of Funders) and Lucille Didomenico (Philanthropy Southwest).