Wildcatter and energy tycoon, newspapers and television stations owner, real estate developer and railroad baron, sports teams owner and hotelier, film producer and philanthropist: Phil Anschutz, this year’s Citizen of the West, is all of these. But, according to his public persona and his own family’s account, he is unwilling to live in the limelight. He seldom grants interviews to the press, is usually too private to have his picture taken, and doesn’t like to accept awards.

The Anschutz family at the Citizen of the West dinner: back row from left: grandson William, son Christian, daughter Libby, Citizen of the West Phil Anschutz and his wife Nancy, and son-in-law Chris Hunt. Front row: Jill Hamilton (Christian’s girlfriend), granddaughters Eleanor and Coco, grandson Jeb, grandaughter Madeleine, and daughter Sarah Hunt.

So when the low profile Denver billionaire showed up at the National Western Event Center on Jan. 12 to accept the annual Citizen of the West award, no one knew for sure how all the attention would play with this year’s recipient. One of the dinner’s organizers even wondered privately whether Mr. Anschutz would allow photographers to chonicle the evening.

“In typical fashion, when he told us that he had been selected as the 2015 Citizen of the West, he downplayed his worthiness of such an honor,” according to his daughter, Sarah Anschutz Hunt. “Thankfully, he was incorrect. Dad is not only worthy of this estimable distinction, he epitomizes inherently ‘western’ characteristics of hard work, opportunism, and fair dealing,” she added.

And of course, she wasn’t the only one to bestow such praise on the reluctant honoree. Former U.S. Senator and 2008 Citizen of the West Hank Brown, who served as master of ceremonies for the event, which attracted 1,000 guests, said Anschutz is the “most generous person in history for all of Colorado and Wyoming,” and added, “he has truly changed the world.”

Not bad for a kid growing up in humble beginnings as he traveled around Kansas and Wyoming watching his father, Fred, wheel and deal in the rough-and-tumble 1950s oil market. According to a 1997 article in Businessweek, the Anschutz family was so broke at times that it was questionable as to whether they could make their mortgage payment. Today, Phil Anschutz is worth around $11.1 billion, and is listed as the 43rd richest American, according to Forbes 400.

“He learned from an early age the values of working hard and seizing the occasion. I am certain that he believes then, as he does now, that people make their own opportunities and that no one ever accomplished anything from life’s sidelines,” described daughter Sarah in her own account of her father. “In short order, a small drilling company became an exploration company and eventually a holding company for a host of incredibly diverse assets.”

She also talked about her father’s ability to think big in the bio that ran in the dinner program. “Whether piecing together the parts of one of the world’s largest railroads, or pioneering the laying of fiber optic cable across the country, or even connecting venues, music, and sports together on a worldwide basis, Dad has had an amazing ability to see into the future,” Hunt said, adding his enduring passion for the Broadmoor as testament to that vision. Under his guidance, she wrote, the Colorado Springs resort will preserve and honor its nearly 100-year legacy while continuing to enhance visitor experiences for a second century.

Her father’s commitment to philanthropy and the work that he and her mother have done through the Anschutz Foundation are well known. In addition to its continued support of the Unversity of Colorado Hospital (reportedly to the tune of over $100 million), the Foundation contributes to a variety of charitable organizations that generally support the ideas of community service, self-sufficiency, education and health care.

Anschutz’s dedication to his family is well known. “He has been an excellent father and grandfather who always relished the opportunity to teach his children and grandchildren how to do particularly ‘western’ things — hunting, fishing, riding horses, even branding cattle,” his daughter Sarah recalled. “Papa” as he is known to his grandchildren, “loves to spend time at Hemingway, his beloved ranch, favors cowboy boots and LA Kings T-shirts, and believes the best time of day is the hours before dawn. He has also taught us,” she added, “the value of hard work, but also tht a sense of humor is a great accessory.”

Anschutz also established The American Museum of Western Art through the gift of his collection of western American artwork amassed over 50 years.

Also according to the profile in Businessweek, at age 27, “the young art buff traveled to Chicago from his home in Denver and charmed his way into a meeting with the chairman of the Santa Fe Pacific Corp. Anschutz had learned that the railroad owned hundreds of rare paintings stored in its headquarters basement. For the rights to buy a few, he proposed cataloging the collection, which had been originally commissioned to make Santa Fe travel posters.

“Until Anschutz showed up, many Santa Fe executives weren’t even aware the collection existed. Four days later, he bought 85 paintings for a pittance, walking away with what has become the core of a rare Western Americana collection. ‘I took the best of their collection,’”Anschutz was quoted as saying at the time.

Dr. Michael Salem, president of National Jewish Health, 2009 Citizen of the West Dick Robinson, and Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Photos by Marie Griffin/The Colorado Statesman

Now open to the public on a part-time basis, the formerly private collection at the Victorian-era Navarre Building in downtown Denver was the backdrop of a 2014 reception for Republican Party officials and donors during the city of Denver’s attempt to lure the RNC for its national convention in 2016, an effort which ultimately fell short.Anschutz has been a large donor to Republican candidates and causes over the years. During several of the past national Republican conventions, Anschutz had his privately restored railroad cars stationed near the convention sites, which he used to entertain prominent candidates and high level GOP officials. On a couple occasions, he allowed Colorado delegates to tour the prized railroad cars. (A Statesman photographer made the mistake a couple decades ago of snapping some photos inside one of the luxurious parlour cars and was asked to vacate the premises immediately per orders of Mr. Anschutz, who forbade any publicity about himself or his toys. The same Statesman photographer was also asked to immediately leave when she was observed taking pictures at the RNC party at his art museum last year, per the order of an RNC official who sternly explained that Mr. Anschutz did not want any photos taken of any of his properties.)

But he wasn’t able to get away with such bashfulness on Monday night, and he surprised even family members and close friends with his willingness to smile for the cameras and talk about an upcoming book he has just authored called “Where the West Begins.”

See the Jan. 16, 2015 edition for full photo coverage.