Denver power broker and attorney dies at 76
Longtime Denver attorney and power broker Steve Farber, a founder of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck who was entwined in the development of many of the city’s biggest public projects, died Wednesday.
He was 76.
Norm Brownstein, his friend of 50-plus years and law firm partner, issued a statement Wednesday morning calling Farber “a Colorado legend.”
“Steve passed away peacefully
surrounded by his family at his home,” Brownstein told The Denver Post. “For more than 50 years, Steve and I were partners on this incredible journey that started on the playground at Colfax Elemen
tary. Who would have thought Steve, Jack Hyatt and I, three kids from north Denver, could do all this?”
Farber rose from humble roots in a tight-knit Jewish neighborhood on Denver’s west side, according to a Denver Post story published in 2005 after he experienced kidney failure.
His father worked as a general manager of a Denver produce wholesaler, and his mother worked at a May department store. Brownstein lived at a foster home in Farber’s neighborhood, and he often would crash at his friend’s house, according to a 2016 story in The Post.
After graduating from the University of Colorado’s law school in 1968, the two and Hyatt started the firm, and eventually turned it into a juggernaut that netted the firm more than $25.7 million in federal lobbying revenue in 2015. Hyatt died in 2017.
Brownstein called Farber “one of the most respected and accomplished leaders in the country.”
Condolences for Farber’s family began pouring into Twitter from Colorado luminaries after news broke of his death, including from U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette.
Farber helped raise tens of millions of dollars to bring the Democratic National Convention to Denver in 2008, serving as cochair of the city’s host committee. He also helped United Airlines negotiate its lease at the new Denver International Airport in the early 1990s.
Later, Farber led the Ascent Entertainment Group’s tortured negotiations with the city to finance and build the Pepsi Center. And he represented the Denver Broncos.
“Steve was often the first call CEOs, politicians and community leaders made because they knew he would find a way to get the job done,” Brownstein said. “Our ability to thrive as a firm for more than 50 years is a testament to Steve’s leadership, work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit.”
Farber was active in Denver’s charitable organizations, including having a long association with Rose Medical Center and the Rose Community Foundation. His battle with kidney disease in the early 2000s prompted Farber to launch the Denver-based American Transplant Foundation to increase awareness about organ donorship and find a cure for the disease.
“Steve believed that no one should die while waiting for a lifesaving transplant,” the foundation said in a statement released shortly after his death. “Through his own struggle of trying to find a living donor due to kidney failure, he realized how much needed to be done to help save lives here in America.”
Former Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has long known Farber and is now running for one of Colorado’s U.S. Senate seats, recalled meeting the lawyer for lunch at Denver’s nowdefunct Bamboo Hut a year before his 2003 bid for Denver mayor.
Farber gave him advice that ran counter to what he was hearing from a lot of other people, who were urging Hickenlooper to get into the race a full year before the election.
“He said, ‘Don’t be silly — you should take as long as you need before you throw yourself into a campaign,’ ” Hickenlooper recounted Wednesday morning. “When you jump in, you want to be 1,000% committed to make a good impression.”
Hickenlooper, who went on to become governor of Colorado for two terms, remembers making at least 20 out-of-town trips with Farber to raise money to bring the Democratic National Convention to Denver 12 years ago.
“Despite all the nos we got, he was always optimistic,” he said. “We raised a bunch of money, and he was tireless.”
Hickenlooper also remembered playing informal tennis matches at Farber’s house. But mostly he remembered Farber’s ability to engage with people in a powerfully personal and effective way.
“He was always in the moment — he paid attention to whoever he was with,” Hickenlooper said. “He made people feel that they were important.”
Former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown knew Farber for the better part of 60 years. He said the most impressive thing about his friend and old college mate was “his ability to get people together and settle disputes.”
Brown knew Farber and Brownstein while all three attended the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 1960s. He recruited the pair to the Delta Tau Delta fraternity even though Jews apparently had never pledged there before.
Brown even considered donating his kidney to Farber when Farber became sick. Despite a match in blood type, Brown was told he was too old to donate, and Farber’s son Gregg ultimately became his kidney donor.
“He’s been a lifetime friend — he was an usher in our (1967) wedding,” Brown said. “He was one of the most extraordinarily capable people I’ve ever met.”
Farber is survived by his wife of 48 years, Cindy, and three sons — Gregg, Brent and Brad. He also had six grandchildren. No cause of death was announced.
“He said, ‘Don’t be silly — you should take as long as you need before you throw yourself into a campaign.’ When you jump in, you want to be 1,000% committed to make a good impression.”
Former Gov. John Hickenlooper