Kent and Caroline Rickenbaugh
The Rickenbaughs had a deep love for Colorado and for family, as noted by their efforts to preserve both the family business and the state’s landscape for generations to come.
Kent was six years old in 1944 when his father moved the family from Michigan to Colorado to purchase a car dealership and head regional distribution for the Cadillac Motor Car Division. At the age of 22, and with a business degree from Dartmouth, Kent returned to Denver to work in the family business. He worked in every department at Rickenbaugh Cadillac before he became owner and president of the dealership in 1987.
When other dealerships moved south where the land was less expensive, Rickenbaugh Cadillac stayed downtown at 777 Broadway in what is now the heart of the Golden Triangle. Kent’s statement “you don’t abandon your downtown,” echoed in that business decision and in his involvement in both the Golden Triangle Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Denver Partnership, organizations responsible for the renewal of Downtown Denver.
Kent worked to preserve Colorado landscapes as well as downtown Denver businesses. He served on the board of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, dedicated to preserving ranchland from development. He placed his 1,100 acre KR Lazy T Ranch in Gunnison under a conservation easement for the Colorado Land Fund. Kent’s efforts motivated several other land owners to do the same in order to ensure protection for the open space. In Denver, Kent sponsored 17 parks and a connecting trail system along the Platte River, plus he made substantial contributions to the Greenway Foundation to clean up the river.
In addition to his love for the outdoors – especially hunting, fishing, golfing and skiing – he had a love for his friends and family. In September 1962, Kent married his longtime friend, Caroline Berger, the daughter of Colorado National Bank President George B. Berger. Kent and Caroline had four children, Selby, Anne, Bart and Katherine.
The couple felt it was important to be involved in many aspects of life in Denver, not only through business, but also through association with local charities like The 2% Club, the Denver Art Museum, and the Denver Country Club Caddie Scholarship Program. Caroline, chairwoman of the Children’s Hospital Foundation, made it her cause to donate time and money to the foundation. She helped raise millions of dollars for the foundation, including co-chairing the hospital's $15 million campaign from 1995 to 1997 to build a new wing. She was also instrumental in persuading the Children's Hospital board to move the hospital to CU's new health sciences center campus in Aurora. After decades of generous philanthropy, leadership and volunteerism at Children’s, Caroline and Kent’s personal gift of $1.5 million in 1998 established Selby’s Chair in Pediatric Cardiology to honor their infant daughter Selby, who died in 1964 from cardiac complications.
Tragically, Kent, Caroline and their son, Bart, died in a plane accident while returning from Aspen in March 2002. Although their physical presence is no longer a part of Colorado, Kent and Caroline’s commitment to the state’s business, community, children and natural landscape will always be remembered.
Kent was six years old in 1944 when his father moved the family from Michigan to Colorado to purchase a car dealership and head regional distribution for the Cadillac Motor Car Division. At the age of 22, and with a business degree from Dartmouth, Kent returned to Denver to work in the family business. He worked in every department at Rickenbaugh Cadillac before he became owner and president of the dealership in 1987.
When other dealerships moved south where the land was less expensive, Rickenbaugh Cadillac stayed downtown at 777 Broadway in what is now the heart of the Golden Triangle. Kent’s statement “you don’t abandon your downtown,” echoed in that business decision and in his involvement in both the Golden Triangle Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Denver Partnership, organizations responsible for the renewal of Downtown Denver.
Kent worked to preserve Colorado landscapes as well as downtown Denver businesses. He served on the board of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, dedicated to preserving ranchland from development. He placed his 1,100 acre KR Lazy T Ranch in Gunnison under a conservation easement for the Colorado Land Fund. Kent’s efforts motivated several other land owners to do the same in order to ensure protection for the open space. In Denver, Kent sponsored 17 parks and a connecting trail system along the Platte River, plus he made substantial contributions to the Greenway Foundation to clean up the river.
In addition to his love for the outdoors – especially hunting, fishing, golfing and skiing – he had a love for his friends and family. In September 1962, Kent married his longtime friend, Caroline Berger, the daughter of Colorado National Bank President George B. Berger. Kent and Caroline had four children, Selby, Anne, Bart and Katherine.
The couple felt it was important to be involved in many aspects of life in Denver, not only through business, but also through association with local charities like The 2% Club, the Denver Art Museum, and the Denver Country Club Caddie Scholarship Program. Caroline, chairwoman of the Children’s Hospital Foundation, made it her cause to donate time and money to the foundation. She helped raise millions of dollars for the foundation, including co-chairing the hospital's $15 million campaign from 1995 to 1997 to build a new wing. She was also instrumental in persuading the Children's Hospital board to move the hospital to CU's new health sciences center campus in Aurora. After decades of generous philanthropy, leadership and volunteerism at Children’s, Caroline and Kent’s personal gift of $1.5 million in 1998 established Selby’s Chair in Pediatric Cardiology to honor their infant daughter Selby, who died in 1964 from cardiac complications.
Tragically, Kent, Caroline and their son, Bart, died in a plane accident while returning from Aspen in March 2002. Although their physical presence is no longer a part of Colorado, Kent and Caroline’s commitment to the state’s business, community, children and natural landscape will always be remembered.
