Chuck Warren – Denver Loses a Great Drummer

Denver just lost a first citizen. Chuck Warren, one of Denver’s most energetic and faithful civic leaders, was a founder and thirty-plus year veteran of The Park People and a board member, active, and emeritus of the Denver Zoo for at least that long.

As the chair of the Zoological Foundation in the mid-1980s, Chuck was a catalyst in the creation of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), the metro area’s nationally acclaimed funding for large and small cultural organizations in the seven counties – now distributing more than $60 million a year. Chuck was also instrumental in getting Northern Shores and Tropical Discovery built at the Zoo.

In working on the SCFD, he was a mixture of political pragmatism and high hopes for public support. He knew the Zoo was probably the most popular organization asking for funding and worked to keep it front and center. A polar bear is the SCFD mascot, a reflection of the popularity of the animals at Northern Shores. The SCFD name was designed to highlight the scientific nature of the organization’s leading beneficiaries – the Zoo, Nature and Science Museum and Botanic Gardens. 

Chuck was also an entertainer. For 60 years, he contributed to one of Denver’s silliest traditions, Twelfth Night, a type of Saturday Night Live in a very, very off-Broadway setting, at the University Club. He was the drummer, wrote lyrics and acted in the annual holiday event.

Of the many civic leaders who have contributed to Denver’s extraordinary quality of life, Chuck Warren was the most consistently nice. He never stopped drumming for Denver.

See obituary here