Richard “Dick” Saunders, who founded Englewood-based Saunders Construction, Inc. and led it to become one of the top-five commercial construction firms in Colorado, died on Friday. He was 85.

Saunders, who founded the company in his home basement in 1972, had served as its CEO until 2001. He continued until 2020 as chairman of the employee-owned firm, which now fields a staff of more than 400 and posts a half-billion dollars in annual revenue.

The company’s project history includes the Denver Broncos’ training facility in Centennial, shopping centers at Southlands in Aurora and The Meadows in Castle Rock, the 650-acre expansion of Steamboat Springs’ ski mountain, and Denver International Airport’s Westin Hotel and Transit Center.

Saunders Construction is also a major contractor on the Cherry Creek West mixed-use project in Denver.

Company executives said that Saunders endowed the firm with characteristic qualities of honesty, performance and accountability, and he demonstrated a gift for problem-solving.

“While Dick Saunders will most certainly be missed, his impact on our community, industry, and company will be felt for generations,” said Greg Schmidt, the chairman and CEO of Saunders Construction, in a statement Monday. “He created a company grounded in purpose and relationships. We are honored to continue carrying that forward.”

COMPANY LAUNCHED FROM HOME

Saunders spent a large part of his childhood on the East Coast before moving to Colorado to attend the University of Denver, according to the Colorado Business Hall of Fame.

With a degree from DU and 13 years of construction experience as a laborer, carpenter, concrete foreman, painter and finish carpenter, Saunders launched his company from home. It gained recognition for early projects, including Cherry Creek Schools’ Dry Creek Elementary School. The company built its portfolio for full-service contracting, design-build projects and construction management.

“His foundation for the business was honesty, performance, and accountability — defining characteristics of the company today,” according to the Business Hall of Fame.

During the following years, the firm received more than 100 awards for construction, employee achievements and community contributions, according to the company. Over that course, Saunders entered the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2018 and received the Engineering News-Record Mountain States Legacy Award in 2022.

Former Engineering News-Record CEO John Beeble said of Saunders in 2022: “Dick has been a guy who’s never, ever said he was going to do something that he didn’t follow through on. That is what makes Dick Saunders who he is, and it’s what makes him unique.” 

“It has been my life’s work to create a company that considers its culture the most important aspect of the business and to offer gainful employment to over 500 people in Colorado,” Saunders was quoted as saying for his Hall of Fame induction.

HUMANITARIAN WORK

Saunders was also widely recognized for work on behalf of youth, education, mental health and other civic causes. There was a time he served on as many as 14 boards at a time, according to the company.

He co-launched the urban-youth group Colorado Uplift. He served on behalf of numerous other nonprofits, including ACE Scholarships, the Institute for Children’s Mental Disorders, the Mental Health America of Colorado, and the Foundation for Urban Youth Ministries.

Saunders was recipient of several humanitarian awards: Volunteers of America Humanitarian Award, the University of Denver Evans Award, the Samaritan Institute Award, and the Kempe Children’s Foundation Award for Community Service.

Saunders Construction had been involved in education-related construction projects on behalf of the University of Colorado and its Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, at Metro State University, the University of Denver, and at the United States Air Force Academy.

In 2018, the company posted – for his Colorado Business Hall of Fame induction – that Saunders was married to Jeanne Portmann Saunders and at the time had “three children, two stepchildren and five grandchildren.”

A “celebration of life” ceremony is scheduled for Spring next year, according to the company.