Ted Shreve’s work may not be visible, but what his company did made a lot of buildings workable and comfortable.
Shreve, who died Oct. 12, was for years head of a company that designed air-conditioning, heating and other systems in some of Denver’s best-known places: Denver International Airport, the Pepsi Center, Invesco Field at Mile High.
The company also designed the de-icing system at DIA.
Shreve died from a massive stroke while having dinner with his wife, Caroline Shreve, at the Denver Country Club, where they were regulars. He was 86.
Services will be at 10 a.m. today at Fairmount Mortuary Chapel, 430 S. Quebec St.
An engineer, Shreve began working as a sales engineer for Trautman Engineering Co. in 1946. Two years later, he became part owner and the company became Trautman and Shreve. In 1968, he bought the rest of the company. In later years, he was in partnership with his son-in-law, Bill Caile of Denver, until retiring in 1992.
They sold the company, but it continues to thrive and is the largest mechanical contracting firm in the Rocky Mountain region, Caile said.
Shreve gave generously to his alma mater, the University of Colorado, including funding for medical research, scholarships to students in medicine, engineering and athletics, and capital programs. He was given the CU Alumni Recognition Award in 1990, and he and his wife were given the CU Medal in 1995. The immunology center at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is named for the Shreves.
Shreve was a member of the CU Foundation Board and the Health Sciences Center’s resource development committee.
“I think he felt that education was the real linchpin of his success and his happy life,” Caile said.
Theodore N. Shreve was born Feb. 14, 1919, in St. Louis. His father died in the flu epidemic of that era, and the family moved to Boulder when Shreve was 3. As a teenager, he worked at various jobs to help support his family.
He served in the Navy as an engineering officer aboard destroyer escorts. His ship, the USS Haverford, was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for sinking 13 enemy submarines.
He earned his business degree from the University of Colorado and did engineering training at Penn State. He married Caroline Prouty on Jan. 7, 1943. They had met on a blind date early in their days at CU.
In addition to his wife and son-in-law, he is survived by daughters Sara Caile of Denver, Suzanne Foster of Phoenix and Theo Russell of Huntington Beach, Calif; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
