In a year that saw a new virus emerge as one of the state’s leading causes of death within weeks of its arrival amid a global pandemic, Colorado lost leading political and civic figures, pioneers who left their mark and helped shape the state they left behind.

Through Dec. 30, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported 3,803 people in Colorado had died due to COVID-19, and 4,687 patients had the new coronavirus at their time of death, including deaths from other causes.

Steve Farber, a founding partner and president of powerhouse, Denver-based law and lobbying firm Brownstein Farber Hyatt Schreck, died March 4 at age 76. A friend and adviser to presidents, senators, governors and mayors, the legendary attorney negotiated deals for the Denver Broncos, Denver International Airport and the E-470 highway authority and oversaw the committee that brought the 2008 Democratic National Convention to Denver. After receiving a transplanted kidney from his son Gregg in 2004, Farber founded The American Transplant Foundation, which has saved more than 1,400 lives and helped enact laws to support living donors and their families.

Former state Rep. Jim Sullivan, R-Douglas County, died April 14 at age 92. Before his one term in the legislature, Sullivan served 16 years as a Douglas County commissioner, helping steer development of the C-470 highway and the Park Meadows shopping mall, and improvements to the Douglas County fairgrounds. The Korean War veteran was married for 68 years to his wife, Donna, who died in December last year.

Former state Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, died April 21 at age 84 from complications due to COVID-19. The Chicago native and Navy veteran served eight years in the Colorado House and eight years in the Senate, from 1993-2008. He worked in the coal and real estate industries. Taylor was known for cutting a dashing figure in his dress whites on Military Appreciation Day at the Capitol. Among the bills he sponsored was one naming Walden the “Moose Viewing Capital of Colorado.”

Former state Rep. Dennis Apuan, D-Colorado Springs, died on May 23 at age 55. Born in Manila, Apuan was the only Filipino-American to have served in the Colorado legislature, where he spent one term. The regional director of the Colorado Progressive Coalition and organizer for Colorado Unity, a statewide equal opportunity group, was among the activists arrested in 2003 for protesting nuclear weapons at Peterson Air Force Base. He founded the left-leaning KCMJ-FM radio station in Colorado Springs in 2014.

Richard D. Robb, a former member of Pueblo City Council and a retired Pueblo district court judge, died Sept. 24 at age 91. A Denver native, Robb welcomed President John F. Kennedy to Pueblo for the 1962 dedication of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project when Robb was city council president. He was an assistant attorney general in the Pueblo office from 1964-1974 and served as district court judge from 1974 until his retirement in 1993. A member of the Colorado Bar Association, Pueblo County Bar Association and Supreme Court Judicial Advisory Council, Robb was honored by the Colorado Bar Association for 50 years in the legal profession.

William “Bill” Lamont Jr., a pioneering Denver city planner under then-Mayor Federico Peña, died Oct. 17 at age 86. The Chicago native was planning director for Boulder from 1967 to 1972, where he led creation of the county’s open space program, the Pearl Street Mall and affordable housing neighborhoods. He joined Peña’s new administration in 1983, helping plan Lower Downtown’s renaissance, construction of Coors Field and the Elitch Gardens move to the Platte Valley. He was instrumental in launching Denver International Airport and crafting neighborhood plans for every neighborhood. Lamont was named a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2002.

Former state Rep. Joe Nuñez, R-Douglas County, and his wife, Lilly Nuñez, a longtime member of the Republican National Committee, died Nov. 16 and Nov. 10, respectively, both due to COVID-19. He was 83 and she was 82. Joe attended nine Republican National Conventions, starting in 1984, and was a Colorado delegate to the RNC five times, including this year. The Greeley native and Air Force combat veteran flew in the Vietnam War and was awarded the Bronze Star. He retired after 20 years service as a lieutenant colonel. Joe was regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush and served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations as a regional official in the Department of Labor. Lilly worked in U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong’s office and later worked in the regional office of the Small Business Administration during the Reagan administration and was the SBA’s acting regional administrator in the George H.W. Bush administration.

Oilman and philanthropist Sam Gary, founder of the Piton Foundation, died Nov. 16 at age 94. The New York native struck it rich in 1967 after drilling 39 dry holes before discovering the Bell Creek Field in Montana, which yielded 240 million barrels of oil and was one of the largest fields in the nation. He and his wife, Nancy, created the Piton Foundation to help Coloradans in need. The charity, part of Gary Community Investments, helped launch the Urban Land Conservancy, the Colorado Children’s Campaign and the Denver Preschool Program.

Cathy Reynolds, the first woman elected to the Denver City Council and a former city council president, died Nov. 26 at age 76. Reynolds, first elected in 1975, served 28 years and 21 days in office, making her the city’s longest-serving council member. A Democrat and native of Kansas City, Missouri, Reynolds served for 25 years on the board of the Colorado Municipal League and was its president twice. She was president of the National League of Cities in 1987. Reynolds co-founded the Denver Women’s Commission in 1985 and was inducted into the Denver and Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame in 2004.

Jack Pappalardo, a lawyer and co-founder of Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe, died Dec. 3 at age 60. The Long Island, New York, native moved with his wife to Colorado from Canada to manage Canadian franchise for Quizno’s, the Denver-based sandwich chain. In 2003, he helmed the creation of the nonprofit arts district, which drew tens of thousands of people to its First Friday art walks and helped establish a model for other neighborhood revitalizations built around galleries and studios. Pappalardo was president of the nonprofit from 2004-2008 and 2011-2016, during which the district became one of Colorado’s first certified creative districts, along with the city of Salida.

Former Denver Police Chief David Michaud, who retired from the police department in 1998 after 31 years on the force, died Dec. 26 at age 80. The Marine veteran went on to chair the Colorado Parole Board until his full retirement in 2010. He was known for handing out his phone number to gang members, 9News reported.