Gerald M. Gerry Quiat, whose non-profit involvement set the gold standard for communal activists, passed away Jan. 1, 2013, after a long battle with Alzheimers disease.
Rabbi Bruce Dollin and Cantor Martin Goldstein officiated at the Jan. 4 service held at the HEA. Interment followed at Emanuel Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
Sheldon Steinhauser, former head of the ADL and a friend for 50 years, eulogized Mr. Quiat as a joy to be with. It is that joy and love that he gave to his community.
Gerry had a passion for civil rights and a passion for the ADL, Steinhauser said. He loved debating the issues . . . and had no hesitancy letting others know what he believed, doing so with the skills of a trial lawyer, keen intellect and equally keen sense of humor.
Mr. Quiat was born in Denver in 1924, a third-generation resident. He attended Steadman Elementary, Smiley Junior and East High School, and completed two years at the University of California-Berkeley, where he lettered in soccer.
In 1943, he joined the US Army and attended Officer Candidate school. He was assigned to the 4th Platoon of Company E, Rainbow Division, and deployed to Europe in 1944.
During the Battle of the Bulge, Mr. Quiat was captured by the Nazis and held as a prisoner near Stuttgart. He nearly died in the camp.
Mr. Quiat managed to escape to France, where he fought with the French Resistance, recaptured a town from the Germans and made his way to the Allied lines. Due to illnesses he suffered as a POW, he was hospitalized for one year. He was awarded the Bronze Star.
After the war, doctors at the Mayo Clinic recommended that Mr. Quiat begin exercising. He became one of the first joggers in Denver and was an athletic trainer at the JCC and YMCA.
He and his wife Bobbie, to whom he was married for 50 years, bicycled extensively throughout Europe.
Upon earning his law degree from DU in 1948, he became a deputy district attorney. He joined his fathers practice, Quiat, Seaman and Quiat, and opened his own firm Quiat, Bocholt and Bull when his father died.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Quiat pursued a business career. He retired in February, 2012, at the age of 88.
His non-profit positions included chair and president of Rose Hospital; president and chair of AMC Cancer Research; chair of the ADL and member of the national executive league; chair of the Colorado Ballet; and member of the Denver Rotary 31.
Appointed by Gov. John Love to serve on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Mr. Quiat chaired the commission and oversaw the enforcement of fair housing laws and civil rights in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Mr. Quiat is survived by his wife Roberta Nicholson Quiat; children James (Adele) Quiat, Audrey (Jeff) Kentz, Melinda (Steve Ford) Quiat, Daniel (Meg) Quiat and Leonard (Rozarii Lynch) Quiat; sister Carole Leight; grandchildren Rachel (Corey) McNulty, Bryce Halverson, Danielle Quiat, Caitlin Quiat and Sarah Quiat; and great-grandson Quinn Quiat.
Contributions may be made to the ADL Mountain States Region, Agape Hospice or the charity of choice.
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
