Joseph Napoléon de Raismes III

April 26, 1944 - July 10, 2020

Boulder was blessed to have had Joe de Raismes as a citizen for over 50 years. Educated at Yale University and Harvard Law School, Joe served as Boulder's City Attorney for 24 years, counseling many Mayors, and handling multiple ground breaking litigations, three of which he took to the U. S. Supreme Court. During most of my professional career, Joe was The Law.

Over 30 years ago, I had the good fortune of getting to know Joe when I assembled the land and started negotiating a public-private partnership with the City of Boulder to build a private hotel on top of a proposed public parking structure at 9th and Canyon. Joe was smart, tough, creative, fair and full of joy for life. Joe and I would get into massive arguments, push and pull, give and take, often threaten to walk, and then we would go eat a huge meal, drink multiple glasses of wine, and chase it all down with heavy  desserts and strong coffee. The French! 

Without Joe’s support, there would be no St. Julian Hotel or a City Club housed at Highland. Joe was a perfect example of Abraham Lincoln’s adage that a worthy opponent is an ideal potential friend.

I am going to miss Joe, his belly laugh and his sage advice, a lot, but I feel honored to have Joe’s son, young Joseph de Raismes IV, also trained as a lawyer, as a member of our City Club community, helping us bring to fruition his dad’s vision to build a Cultural Arts Center in the Civic Area of our downtown. 

Joe has physically transitioned, but his legacy, his ambitions, and his vision for Boulder’s future remain fully intact.

I feel honored to call Joe a good friend.

– Sina.