Former Denver restaurateur and civic leader Howard Torgove died on August 23, 2023, at the age of 85. A service was held on August 27 at Feldman Mortuary with interment at Mount Nebo Memorial Park, officiated by Rabbi Steve Kaye. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., born on Feb. 20, 1938, Mr. Torgove’s family moved to Denver in 1948, where he attended North High School and CU Boulder, graduating in 1960 with a degree in business.
At CU, Mr. Torgove met Carol Lavitt. They were married for 63 years before Mr. Togove’s passing.
Mr. Torgove got an early taste of the hospitality business, as his family operated the Rockland Hotel in downtown Denver. Several years after his graduation from CU, Mr. Torgove and two partners opened Leo’s Place Restaurant. The partners then opened The Wellshire Inn.
Mr. Torgove was chairman of the board for the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. He was awarded the Chancellor’s Award from the CU Health Science Center.
Mr. Torgove was a US presidential appointee to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts. He was appointed to the Mayor’s Sports Facility task force, a member of the Governor’s work force housing committee, the Denver Art, Culture and Film Foundation, the Mayor’s Business Advisory Council, and a founding member of Director’s Society of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Upon reciting Mr. Torgove’s numerous charitable and civic endeavors, his family wryly said: “Sometimes he slept.”
His family added: “What he enjoyed most was the time he could spend with his family; telling stories, discussing movies, songs, elections and spending every day trying to learn something new from a story in the newspapers and online.”
Survivors are Mr. Torgove’s wife Carol; children Lisa and Mark; grandchildren Zach, Alexandra, Samuel, Jackson and Annabelle; and sibling Tommy Torgove.
Contributions may be made to the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect.
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