Robert Carr, a Denver attorney for 54 years, followed in the footsteps of his father, former Gov. Ralph Carr.
“He believed in the rights of minorities and fought for the underdog,’ said Robert Carr’s daughter, Katherine Lynch of San Diego.
Her dad died in Albuquerque, where he had moved late last year. He was 82.
A native of Denver and a graduate of East High School, Carr was in the state attorney general’s office before turning to private practice. Eventually he moved into bankruptcy law.
He believed that specialty gave him the chance to fight for people who had no resources, his daughter said.
Carr adopted his father’s outlook on equality. Ralph Carr, governor from 1939 to 1943, fought the U.S. policy of interning Japanese Americans in camps during World War II, calling it inhumane and unconstitutional. One camp was in southeastern Colorado.
Robert Carr took on cases for the American Civil Liberties Union and was active in his own neighborhood association in southeast Denver. He was instrumental in getting Thomas Jefferson High School to hire the school’s first African-American teacher, Lynch said.
“He was nonconforming and ahead of the curve,’ she said.
Robert Carr was a registered Republican, like his father, but probably a Democrat at heart, his daughter said.
In addition to the law, Carr’s passion was jazz. He jointly owned two after-hours jazz clubs in downtown Denver and went to them often.
The Cleft Club and the CARI often hosted nationally known jazz artists who were in town for concerts elsewhere, Lynch said. She said Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Billie Holiday were among those at the after-hours clubs, which were open in the 1950s and 1960s.
The clubs brought various races together, and “my father always thought music was a great way to break down barriers,’ Lynch said.
Robert Frank Carr was born Sept. 25, 1922, in Antonito and earned his law degree at the University of Colorado.
He married Bonnie Sandlin in 1942. They later divorced. She died several years ago.
In addition to his daughter Katherine, he is survived by another daughter, Gretchen Carr of Albuquerque; a son, Robert L. Carr of Glendale, Calif.; and six grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
