Donald Sturm, business leader and philanthropist, dies at 92

Denver businessman and philanthropist Donald Sturm died peacefully on Aug. 17, leaving a legacy of achievement and generosity across Colorado and beyond. He was 92.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1932, Sturm attended City College of New York before being drafted into the army.  Upon discharge, he moved to Denver and earned his law degree at the University of Denver before getting his Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University.

Sturm served as a trial attorney for the IRS before joining Peter Kiewit Sons’ Co. in Omaha, Nebraska.  Over his 28 years at Kiewit, he rose to vice chairman, leading the 1984 acquisition of multi-national conglomerate Continental Group, developing mines across Wyoming and negotiating to build China’s first modern coal mine as it began its industrial development. In 1987, he met and married Susan Sturm.

In 1991, the couple moved to Denver. Sturm became an entrepreneur, real estate developer and serial investor, acquiring multiple banks in Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas, which today form ANB Bank. He and his partners developed the 4,000-acre Meadows at Historic Castle Rock, a community that today houses over 20,000 people. He kicked off the redevelopment boom in Cherry Creek with the redevelopment of the old Tattered Cover building and the creation of Fillmore Plaza.  In 2022 he was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame.

Sturm also was a member of the group that bought Continental Airlines out of bankruptcy in April 1993. The airline was restructured and is now part of United Airlines. He served on the airline’s Board of Directors from April 1993 to September 2003.

The son of immigrants, Sturm influenced institutions across Denver and Colorado with his giving, including Judaism Your Way, the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, Arapahoe Community College, the Jewish Community Center of Denver and many more.

Sturm was a former trustee of the University of Denver, now recognized as an Honorary Life Trustee, and two facilities on the campus bear the family name. He was also on an Advisory Committee of Johns Hopkins Hospital Brady Institute.