Blanche “Bammy” Cowperthwaite, a former state legislator, Realtor and driver for women’s rights, died June 17, just 10 days after her 100th birthday.
A private service was held.
Cowperthwaite, a Republican, served in the Colorado House of Representatives in 1954-56.
She began in real estate in 1950, when it was mostly male-dominated. After marrying Arthur Cowperthwaite, she was involved in commercial real estate with him and their sons, Jim Cowperthwaite of Denver and the late Steve Cowperthwaite.
“Mom loved making the deal,” said Jim Cowperthwaite. All his mother’s activities — whether civic, political or business — involved working with other people, which she did “beautifully,” he said.
She and her family were involved in a dispute with the metro stadium district before Coors Field was built. The Cowperthwaites owned nearly 2 acres at 20th and Blake streets, a piece of land that included what is now home plate. The family wanted $2.5 million to $3.4 million, and the stadium district was willing to pay $1.5 million. After a prolonged and public battle, the matter was settled in arbitration and the family “netted $2.3 million,” Jim Cowperthwaite said.
Though she was “crummy” at fundraising, she was a good organizer and a hard worker who loved marketing, he said. She also “was fun to be around and could tell a terrific joke,” Jim Cowperthwaite said.
“She wasn’t shy about standing up for what she wanted and could do a little schmoozing when needed,” said a longtime friend, Phyllis Alexander of Denver.
Real estate involvements included those in Vail, Grouse Mountain, Kenosha Pass, Kremmling and Pagosa Springs. In Denver the family was involved in the development of the Acoma Center in the Golden Triangle.
“Bammy” Cowperthwaite “had an incredibly strong constitution and very strong convictions,” said her daughter, Jill Cowperthwaite of Denver. She was also “irreverent,” often lied about her age and was prone to salty language, her daughter said. “She was a character.”
She was chairwoman of the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, named by the late Gov. John Love, and on both the Denver and Colorado Commissions on Judicial Discipline.
She and the late Virginia Neal Blue set up centers, named for Blue, in several southwestern Colorado areas to help low-income men and women make crafts and other artwork, not only to make a living but also to “preserve traditions,” Jim Cowperthwaite said.
Blanche Taussig was born in Denver on June 7, 1909. Her nickname was coined when her younger sister couldn’t pronounce Blanche. She earned a degree in economics from the University of Denver.
She married Arthur T. Cowperthwaite on April 5, 1929. He died in 1990. She married Rodney Davis May 23, 1996, and he died the next year.
In addition to her daughter and son, she is survived by two other sons: Charles (Kit) Cowperthwaite of Littleton and Arthur (Tee) Cowperthwaite of Denver; 11 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren; three stepchildren: Barclay Davis, Carla Larson and Derek Davis, and her longtime caregiver, Rhonda Mason.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
