Former Mayor Bill Reitler dies at age 83

LAKEWOOD – Former Mayor Charles William “Bill” Reitler, who helped shape the city and it’s government, died Friday. He was 83.

Reitler, who served from 1979 to 1983, was the city’s third mayor and graduated from Lakewood High School.

He was born in Denver Aug. 16, 1926, and was a life-long Colorado resident. He was a University of Denver graduate, earning degrees in business and English.

In 1945, soon after marrying his wife Lillian, Reitler enlisted in the Army, serving in the Philippines and with the occupation forces in Japan.

Reitler founded Reitler & Co, a real estate and development firm, which operated mostly in the Lakewood area and was instrumental in the formation of the Lakewood City Charter Commission, which compiled the parameters that still regulate city government.

Voters approved the Charter in Reitler’s last year as mayor.

Reitler also was a prime factor in building Lakewood’s Municipal Building, which now is the city’s Public Safety Center at West Alameda Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard.

After voters rejected a bond issue to pay for the building, Reitler and other supporters of a City Hall building turned instead to Certificates of Participation to finance the project. a priority, and ground was broken for the new building in 1982. As the Public Safety Center, that building now houses the Police Department and Municipal Courts.

“You look back at Bill’s career … look at what he accomplished. The city Charter was a goal of his,” said Mayor Bob Murphy. “Building the City Hall near Alameda and Wadsworth – the building that’s now our Public Safety Center – was a goal of his and he got those goals accomplished.”

Murphy said all five of the city’s surviving mayors were expected to attend Reitler’s funeral. Murphy is Lakewood’s seventh mayor.

Reitler also flipped the switch in the city’s first Christmas tree lighting ceremony in 1982.

He was a former president of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, the Jeffco Board of Realtors and the Lakewood Lions Club. He was selected as Businessman of the Year and by the Chamber as and Realtor of the Year by the Jeffco Realtors. He also was a member of the Metro Homebuilders Association and served on the United Bank of Lakewood board of directors and as chairman of the Lakewood Water and Sewer Commission.

Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Sharon Rhodes and Carol Gutke; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be at Crown Hill Mortuary from 5-7 p.m. Dec. 1. A memorial service will be 3:00 p.m. Wednesday Dec. 2nd at Lakewood United Methodist Church, 1390 Brentwood St.

The burial service is private and will be at Crown Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Lakewood United Methodist Church, where he was a member for more than 50 years.