Civic icon Donald R. Seawell, founder and chairman emeritus of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and a former publisher of The Denver Post, died Wednesday. He was 103.

Born in North Carolina, Seawell was an early staff member at the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Roosevelt. When World War II broke out, he went to work for the Justice Department and as executive secretary of the Combined American and British Intelligence Organizations. He joined the armed services in 1943, reporting to General Dwight Eisenhower, where he took part in planning for D-Day, helping divert German attention from Normandy.

After the war, Seawell entered private practice as an attorney in New York, where he headed his firm’s corporate and international divisions, eventually growing a theatrical practice. His clients included Noel Coward, Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne and Tallulah Bankhead. He was the first producer to bring the Royal Shakespeare Company, including productions of King Lear and The Comedy of Errors to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary.

“Donald Seawell was a visionary whose dreams for the city of Denver, the state of Colorado and indeed the world will outlive generations to come,” said DCPA President and CEO Scott Shiller. “Mr. Seawell’s reputation as an industry leader inspired the creation of countless other performing arts centers throughout the country. Denver is the No. 1 arts city in the country because of the innovative path Mr. Seawell set us on 37 years ago.”

Denver Post owner Helen G. Bonfils partnered with Seawell on Broadway shows and and eventually hired him to represent her during a lengthy fight to control the newspaper. In 1966, he was named president and CEO of The Post and moved full-time to Denver. It was then he had the idea to transform a part of downtown Denver into a performing arts complex based, establishing the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

He was a member of the boards of the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Symphony Orchestra and Central City Opera.

Seawell was predeceased by his wife, Eugenia Rawls. He is survived by their children, Brockman Seawell of New York and Brook Ashley Ogilvie of Santa Barbara, Calif., a granddaughter and two great-grandchildren.

– info@coloradostatesman.com