Jill Behr

Jill Louise Behr of Denver, CO, passed away on January 17, 2022 at the age of 79. Jill was born on June 28, 1942 in Philadelphia, PA. She attended Radnor High School, and then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Penn State University. In August 1965, Jill married her husband of over 55 years, Ernst Herbert Behr. Together they moved from PA to Salt Lake City, UT and then settled in Denver, CO for more than 51 years. Jill always raved about the clear blue Colorado skies and sunshine. She was a painter, singer, performer, fashionista, poet, avid reader, entrepreneur, businesswoman, volunteer, and event and community leader.

Jill led a robust and accomplished career in advertising, marketing, sales and public relations. She worked at several major companies including IBM, Tracy Locke PR Agency, Boyer’s Coffee, Pace Membership Warehouse, Stephen Covey, and the Denver Newspaper Agency. Jill held an active leadership role in numerous community organizations including the Women’s Library Association, the Junior Symphony Guild, Volunteers of America, the Junior League, Central City Opera, and the Children’s Diabetes Foundation. Jill spearheaded numerable fundraising efforts as President of the Denver Center Alliance for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Jill made many television and newspaper appearances for her professional and community endeavors. She savored summer vacations at the seashore and boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ, beginning as a young girl and throughout her adult life. She loved sailing, the ocean breeze, the warm sand, the salty air, and sunshine. Jill loved to laugh, decorate, dress up, and share her cheer and creativity. Above all else, Jill loved and cherished her family.

Jill Behr is survived by her devoted husband, Ernst, as well as their three treasured children: Karine, Brant, and Kristin; dedicated sons-in-law: Sandford Sommer and Benjamin Otten; loving daughter-in-law: Jamie Behr; her 8 cherished grandchildren: Cecilia, William, and Charles Sommer; Emily, Maxwell, and Eric Behr; Bear and River Otten; her dear sister and brother-in-law: Dorothy and Anthony DiMarino, Jr., and their larger family. She was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Dorothy, and her younger brother, Charles, Jr.

A public memorial service, followed by reception, will be held at 1 p.m. on February 5, 2022 at Horan & McConaty, 5303 East County Line Road, Centennial, CO, 80122.  The service will be live streamed: https://bxcited.com/jill-behr/

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either CurePSP at https://www.psp.org/iwanttohelp/ways-to-give/ , or to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) in memory of Jill Behr at https://www.denvercenter.org/support-us/ .

CurePSP donations will support education, research, and hopeful cure for the extremely rare neurodegenerative disease that Jill gracefully endured in her final years. Alternatively, DCPA donations will perpetuate Jill’s abounding energy to inspire the Denver community through the power and education of live theater.