The smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through the 16th Street Mall on Monday as a crowd of well-wishers and sweet tooths flocked to the Santa Fe Cookie Company to honor Debbie Kuehn, Denver’s
People came by the dozens for the occasion, alone and in groups, from their downtown offices and all the way across town, to taste one last cookie and pay their respects to a woman who provided warmth and comfort to any and all who entered her store. Some brought flowers, others left notes, and many left the shop with armfuls of cookies for co-workers and family members.
“Denver will not be the same,” said one woman leaving the shop. “Where are we going to get our cookie fix now?”
Kuehn died June 28 at the age of 57, leaving hundreds of customers bereft and shocked at her sudden absence from Republic Plaza on the 16th Street Mall, where her three-for-a-dollar cookies were legendary. But the beloved baker left behind one last sweet treat for the community that adored her: a walk-in freezer stocked with cookie dough. Kuehn’s family reopened the shop Monday to give away all the cookies that Debbie’s remaining dough could offer.
Kuehn’s sister, niece and nephew were hard at work as the event kicked off, bustling between the shop’s freezer and ovens, bagging cookie after cookie as the never-ending line of the Cookie Lady’s admirers grew longer and longer.
People lined up paying respects to dear downtown friend . Republic Plaza smells great, one last time
— Dana ☀️ Coffield (@danacoffield)
“Share the cookies, share the love,” said Kuehn’s sister Bambi Forbes as crowds filed in the door one-by-one to grab chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin cookies and more. “Itap what Debbie would have done.”
The line was out the door, up the stairs and down the street by the 10 a.m. start time, and by 10:05 the donation jugs for Kuehn’s favorite charities were filled to the brim. By 10:30 a.m., the line reached all the way down the block.
RIP
— Larry Ryckman ☀️ (@larryryckman)
“This is something I looked forward to every time I was off work,” said Victoria Jercinovic, who was among the first to arrive at the cookie giveaway to pick up a “space chip” cookie for her husband. “This was a staple of our lives.”
Some reminisced on being taken to the Cookie Lady their first day on a new job in downtown. Others recalled relying on a cookie fix to survive a particularly long day in the office.
“It was kind of a joke in our office, if you’re having a bad day go get some cookies,” said Staci Berry, who works downtown. “Itap going to be a big hole in Republic Plaza.”
Kuehn was endlessly curious about the regulars who came to her shop, and remained committed to serving cookies to the community even as she grew ill. Despite undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor, she reopened Santa Fe Cookie Company in May, wanting to return to her customers and her work. Three weeks later, when the tumors came back, she closed shop again.
“I never knew what was going on with her because she was more interested in your kids and your life,” said Lee Hallock, who dropped off a card for Kuehn from his daughter. “She was a great artist, she was really dedicated to her craft. Itap amazing the number of people that knew about her and the business.”
Donations left for Kuehn will benefit Colorado Public Radio, the Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue, and the Denver Police Departmentap Mounted Patrol, whom she loved to see on the 16th Street Mall.
Kuehn’s niece Alexis McLean, who has worked for the company on and off for the past 10 years, said the family is hoping to keep the cookie company alive.
“Itap a family business,” McLean said. “When I was a little girl I would go down and visit her with my mom and put the fork pattern in the peanut butter cookies.”
Many at Monday’s memorial expressed hope that the Santa Fe Cookie Company would reopen someday soon.
“You sort of think people will be around forever,” said Stephanie Killen, a longtime customer who came downtown especially for the memorial. “”I hope that they keep it going.”
By 2 p.m., McLean was handing out the last of the cookies as people continued to stream in and out of the shop. The family baked and gave away thousands of cookies in a little over four hours. Chris Guerrero, who works in the area, scored one of the last cookies of the day: an oatmeal cranberry.
“She was all of this,” Kuehn’s sister Bambi said, gesturing around the shop. “It took three of us today to honor her and honor Denver.”
