by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
The Daily Sentinel
n the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln famously said, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” Notoriously modest, he was completely wrong. One hundred and sixty-three years later, his speech is perhaps the best remembered in American history, still frequently memorized and recited long after most Americans have forgotten the names and achievements of the men who fought there. Our words and activities may be remembered much longer than we expect.
Leaders across Colorado mourn the passing of Bill Sisson, whose modesty may have rivaled even that of Lincoln. I remember an executive committee meeting at Club 20, when the others asked Bill what to do and he was reluctant to be seen as the decision-maker. He said, “I’m just one guy; I certainly can’t tell others what to think.” But he wasn’t just one guy. He was chairman of the board, and there was a reason he had been elected unanimously.
Bill Sisson was as shrewd a businessman as I ever knew. He was a leader in the Colorado banking industry for decades and used those skills to lead numerous other endeavors across the state. He was on the boards of the Mesa State College Foundation, several Glenwood Springs organizations, the Colorado Bankers Association, and the Downtown Rotary Club. He served on the Grand Junction City Council and was appointed by three governors to the Colorado Economic Development and International Trade Commission.
Bill’s all-too-brief obituary mentioned in passing his membership in Club 20, but even this somewhat longer column cannot begin to do justice to the reputation he had across the Western Slope. He and Jeanne approached the task together, as they did everything. The selfless hours they spent in service of a broader community, and the respect and admiration they earned from a wide range of other leaders, are the definition of what makes Club 20 work. During the decade I was president of the organization, I worked with 10 board chairmen: Joe Prinster, Jasper Welch, Bill Needham, Peggy Rector, Doug Lockhart, Eric Johnson, Thelma Starner, Dave Logan, Tom Harned, and finally, Bill Sisson. I appreciated the support, help and friendship he and Jeanne brought to the group, more than they’ll ever know.
