Arthur Edward Otten, Jr.

Arthur E. Otten, Jr. passed away peacefully on February 2, 2024.  Art was born October 11, 1930 in Buffalo, NY.  After high school, Art graduated from Hamilton College and Yale Law School, served in the Navy and made his way to Denver in 1958 (over the objections of his mother, who pictured unpaved streets and people riding horses).   

 Once in Colorado, Art fell in love with Mary Therese Torri and the beauty of the Colorado mountains.   Art and Mary enjoyed 63 years of marriage and they were an incredible team, raising 5 children with patience, love and occasional chaos.  Art used his legendary organizational skills to try to tame that chaos.  There were frequent family meetings, which he chaired with legal pad in hand.  Mostly, there were life long lessons in being fair, considerate and doing the right thing.

 Those cherished qualities were also the hallmark of his legal career.  He was chief outside counsel for Colorado National Bank while practicing with Davis, Graham and Stubbs for almost 3 decades.  In 1986, a group of young, smart lawyers persuaded him to add his experience and reputation to their new firm and it became Otten, Johnson, Robinson, Neff and Ragonetti.  He was most proud of the firm’s commitment to practicing law with an emphasis on respect and integrity.

 By example, Art taught us to be fair, gentle and considerate –which was his definition of success.  He is survived by his wife, Mary Otten and their children and grandchildren:  Meg Otten (husband Randy Malecha), Mike Otten (wife Pamela, children Daniel, Thomas and Matthew), Maureen Staley (children Emily and Drew), Susie Hoodecheck (husband Steve, daughter Annie), Jennifer Shankle (husband Kirk, children Amelia and Will).

 A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 am on Friday, Feb. 9^th at Risen Christ Catholic Church, 3060 Monaco Parkway, Denver, CO 80222.  There will be a reception immediately following at the church. The Mass will be live streamed via the Church's YouTube channel available here.

Memorial donations can be made to Risen Christ Catholic Church for their church renovation project or a charity of the donor’s choice.