Lawyer David Ogilvie was widely respected by clients, colleagues and friends, and equally well known for the parties he threw and the fun he provided.
Ogilvie died Tuesday of cancer. He was 71.
“David was very, very bright; a good lawyer and a wonderful friend,” said U.S. District Senior Judge John L. Kane Jr., whose friendship with Ogilvie dates to 1951. “David had a way of looking at people, being amused and always tolerant of others.”
The Ogilvies settled the Kersey area near Greeley in the 1880s, where they ran a large ranch and where Ogilvie was born in 1938. After World War II, his father, James, became chief engineer of the Big Thompson Project and moved the family to Estes Park, where David developed a life-long passion for fly-fishing and skiing.
In Denver, he graduated from East High School. He joined the Army as an intelligence specialist and served in Africa and Vietnam, just prior to the conflict. In 1964, he received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and graduated from DU’s School of Law in 1967.
“David was a true gentleman in the old-world style, almost courtly,” said law school classmate and 40-year colleague Shelley Don.
Ogilvie was married 28 years to his wife, Sheri Behr Ogilvie, who survives him.
“He gave me a wonderful life,” she said. “David represented a lot of young clients, people who had made mistakes, but he made sure they would reclaim their lives.”
Ogilvie was a general practitioner with expertise in criminal defense, divorce and trusts. He’s credited with managing a very large agricultural-equipment trust, which passed from a troubled father to a neglected 12-year-old son.
“David stepped in, made the right decisions, gave fatherly advice and made sure the son got through school,” said attorney Clifford Beem, who met Ogilvie in law school and shared an office with him for 15 years. “Today, the son is 36 and is a responsible, good, young man. And I think the trust grew dramatically in value while David was in charge. He worked on that until he died.”
Survivors include his wife; brother James, of Seattle; three nieces and two nephews.
A service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Horan & McConaty Mortuary, 1091 S. Colorado Blvd. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Friends of Man, 5594 S. Prince St., Littleton, CO 80120.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
