Comments on: A Tragic Loss for Civic America

By: Citistates Group - John Parr Memorial Events

Citistates Group - John Parr Memorial Events — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:13:08 +0000

[...] people gathered in Denver’s downtown Bull Theater February 29 to pay tribute to civic leader John Parr, his journalist wife Sandy Widener and daughter Chase Parr, who lost their lives in a Christmas [...]

By: Bill Fulton

Bill Fulton — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:25:44 +0000

Curt and all –

Thanks for remembering John so well. I also wrote a remembrance of him, which you can read at http://www.cp-dr.com/node/1894

Bill Fulton

By: Curt Johnson

Curt Johnson — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:52:45 +0000

Thanks for letting us know about the tribute site, Mark. Take care.

Curt

By: Mark Pfaltzgraff

Mark Pfaltzgraff — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:53:35 +0000

Very kind words and a nice write up on John (my uncle). For those interested in more info on the family, friends have just set up a site at johnandsandy.muchloved.com You can read more background there, contribute thoughts, etc.

Thanks,

Mark Pfaltzgraff

By: Dick Fleming

Dick Fleming — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:43:32 +0000

Thank you to Neal and Curt for their fitting tributes to John, Sandy and Chase.

I first got to know John when Sarah and I moved to Denver in 1980. Shortly thereafter, he and Sandra became wonderful friends. We ended up living several blocks from each other, adjacent to the same park in which 500 people showed up spontaneously Christmas eve weekend in the snow to pay tribute to them.

Sandy was an accomplished journalist and brought keen insight to everything she wrote.

In addition to being a long time friend, John also was a trusted civic colleague in many capacities— from introducing me to Federico Pena’s “Imagine a Great City” vision for becoming Mayor of Denver; to being an office neighbor when he returned to Denver from New York as president of the National Civic League; to helping us navigate the often turbulent political setting in Colorado (especially during the challenging turn around of the Denver economy in the late 80s); to being an active Citistates colleague; to his founding the Denver Community Leadership Forum over 20 years ago (I will never forget his literally helping this “non-Outward Bounder” to the top of Mt. Elbert as part of our Outward Bound experience in the first DCLF class); to sharing his “civic diplomacy,” including most recently serving as lead facilitator here in St. Louis over the past several years of the Metro Forum project.

A number of years ago, John collaborated with Neal and Curt to author the book, Boundary Crossers. John Parr was the ultimate “boundary crosser.”

We will miss John, Sandra, and Chase.

Dick Fleming
CEO
St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association

By: Curt Johnson

Curt Johnson — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:56:06 +0000

Thanks David and Richard, for adding your thoughts about John. I found that writing about him helped me sort out the still tangled emotions over what happened.

Curt

By: David Warm

David Warm — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:36:07 +0000

Thank you, Neal and Curtis, for your rememberances. John;’s detah is a stunning loss and your words convey why so well. Let me know if I can help as a memorial is planned. David Warm

By: Richard Ybarra

Richard Ybarra — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:09:45 +0000

Curtis,

With your unique brand of class you captured the essence of the beautiful human being John was and will always be to those who were blessed with knowing him. I am certain his family reflected his Rocky Mountain high spirit and outlook on life. Let us know what and when there will be ways to honor his daughter with support.

Best Regards,

Richard Ybarra