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Obituary: George A. Wiegers

George A. Wiegers
George A. Wiegers
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August 23, 1936 – November 24, 2024

George Anthony Wiegers, a pioneering figure in finance and a beloved mentor to countless professionals, passed away peacefully on November 24, 2024 in his residence in Denver, CO.

Born on August 23, 1936 in New York City, George was the son of Anthony F. Wiegers, a combustion engineer, and Florence Tingo. After his mother was diagnosed with a severe form of mental illness, he moved in with his uncle George in Bronx, NY where he lived through his teenage years. He was proud of his heritage as a 6th generation New Yorker, with the first American family descendants immigrating from Austria and establishing a green-grocer on the lower east side in 1836.

He attended Niagara University where he played basketball and participated in its R.O.T.C. program, graduating with a BA in 1958. After a stint in the U.S. Army 1958-1959 as a First Lieutenant he attended Columbia Business School, where he met many of his life-long personal and business friends, graduating with an M.B.A. in 1961.

He began his storied financial career at Dean Witter & Company in 1961, rising to become head of the syndicate department and an eventual partner. In 1971 he joined Lehman Brothers as a general partner and in 1983 became a Managing Partner at Dillon Read & Co. under Chairman Nicolas Brady (Treasury Secretary 1988-1993).

One of his mantras was “success isn’t going to be in selling financial products. It will be in selling (our) people and their ideas”. That proved fruitful in his representation of Storer Communications during its hostile takeover, his creativity in helping Doubleday Publishing divest its interest in the New York Mets and again in helping fashion the “Brady Bonds” that recapitalized much of Latin America during its debt crisis in the 1980s.

During his career he sat on a host of boards including Darby Overseas Investment Corp., Weatherford International, Pulte Corp, American City Business Journals, and Trout Unlimited.

Upon retirement in 1993 George moved to Vail, CO with his wife Betsy. There they established a new life within the community, being hearty supporters of Vail Bravo and the Vail Valley Foundation. At this time he also started Wiegers & Co. LLC, a small investment partnership focused on emerging-growth companies, which went on to found and finance companies such as QDOBA, the Vail Valley Jet Center, Scissortail (Copano Energy), Hart Energy Publishing and AL George Inc.

Beyond his professional accomplishments he remained a humble and compassionate individual, deeply devoted to his family and friends. Never forgetting his experiences with his mother, he founded The Depression Center at the University of Colorado Health system to provide mental health clinical services to the Denver community. Now named the Johnson Depression Center, it became the founding nexus of the national mental health network of 28 depression centers across the country. In addition, he created the Wiegers Clinic at the Eagle Valley Behavioral Health program within the Vail Health system, which along with the Precourt Healing Center now provides both inpatient and outpatient services to the communities of the western slope of Colorado.

He was also proud of his support of the Knight-Bagehot program at Columbia Business School, where for 30 years he helped the best reporters in the country get their business school educations through the Wiegers Fellowship.

A lifelong sportsman, George cherished his times hunting and fishing with his friends along with skiing, tennis and squash. His various clubs were The Links (NY), The Brook (NY), Anglers Club of NY, the Sailfish Club of Florida, The Everglades Club (FL), The Bear River Club (UT) and The Bohemian Club (CA).

George Is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and a vast network of colleagues and friends who were always amazed by his boundless curiosity, enthusiasm and interest in their own lives and activities.

A Celebration of Life will be held on February 1, 2025 in Denver, CO. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to the Vail Health Foundation P.O. Box 1529 Vail, CO 81658.


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