Milestones Icon: Bob Beauprez

Bob Beauprez is a Colorado native who has scored a trifecta of sorts – holding jobs as a rancher, banker and congressman.

He was raised on a third-generation dairy farm in Lafayette where the family sold Holstein cattle sold all over the world. He spent 20 years working with his parents and brother on the farm.

The family’s farm land near U.S. Highway 287 and Baseline Road later was sold and developed as the Indian Peaks Golf Course and 1,500 homes in the surrounding neighborhood.

After selling the farm, Beauprez and his wife, Claudia, bought an interest in a small local bank, which was renamed Heritage Bank. The bank grew from one location to more than a dozen and from $4 million in assets in 1990 to about $450 million in 2006.

In high school, Beauprez played football at Fairview High School, where he was named an all-conference offensive tackle. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1970.

Beauprez’s first leadership role in politics was in 1997, when he was elected to be the chairman of the Boulder County Republican Party. With the backing of former Sen. Wayne Allard, Beauprez was elected to be the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party in 1999, a period marked by attempts to use redistricting to get more Republican candidates elected in Colorado.

But Beauprez is probably best known for his tenure as a Republican congressman in the 7th Congressional District from 2002 to 2006. When he won the “swing” district in 2002, he beat Democrat Mike Feeley by 121 votes, the closest race in the nation.

As a freshman congressman, Beauprez served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Veterans Affairs Committee and the Small Business Committee. When he was re-elected in 2004, Beauprez served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

In 2006, Beauprez had an unsuccessful run for governor of Colorado.

Beauprez and his wife, Claudia, own Eagle’s Wing Ranch in Walden, where they breed buffalo. They still maintain their home in the Indian Peaks neighborhood of Lafayette. The couple has four children and three grandchildren.

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