Dean Weidner Obituary

Weidner
Dean Weidner
August 5, 1942
March 17, 2026

Dean Weidner lived with uncommon drive, deep conviction, and a generosity that reached far beyond what many people ever saw. He passed away on March 17, 2026, at the age of 83, leaving behind a legacy built not only in business but also in the people, places, and communities he loved.
Dean was born in Chicago on August 5, 1942, to Walter and Ruth Weidner and was raised in Colorado Springs with his sisters, Lynn and Marthann. Adventure came naturally to him. As a boy and young man, he found joy in the mountains, lakes, and streams of Colorado. He hiked, fished, snow skied, waterskied, and even summited Pikes Peak as a teenager — no small feat, especially considering most kids his age would have been tempted to drive up the gravel road instead. He also worked hard from an early age, first as a paperboy at 12, then as the owner of his own lawn-mowing business, and later as a hod carrier during the summers. His ambition only continued to grow as he strived for larger, life-defining goals.
Dean graduated with the first class of Wasson High School in 1960, earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, and later completed his MBA at Fresno State.
His love for real estate and property management began close to home. As a teenager and college student, he worked as the maintenance technician for his mother's apartment homes. With his father's early guidance, he learned to care for both the properties and the people who lived in them. That experience sparked something in him that never left.
His professional career began in the airline industry with Trans World Airlines, where he worked in San Francisco, New Jersey, and New York City and traveled extensively around the world. He often said Paris was his favorite city. But it was Alaska that captured his heart. In 1973, he joined Alaska Airlines as its first Vice President of Marketing, and through that chapter came to love Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and eventually Seattle, which became his home.
In 1977, Dean bought the Lafayette Apartments in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood, his first real estate investment and the beginning of what would become Weidner Apartment Homes. In 1979, he stepped away from the airline industry to devote himself fully to the company he would spend the next several decades building.
Over nearly 50 years, Dean grew Weidner Apartment Homes into one of the largest apartment owners in the United States, adding close to 75,000 apartment homes, expanding into dozens of markets, and creating opportunities for nearly 2,000 employees. But what mattered to him was never just scale. He believed apartment homes deserved dignity because they were, for many people, the center of daily life, stability, and belonging. He believed communities should be invested in, not merely entered. And he cared deeply about the people who worked within the company, taking deliberate steps to help protect their livelihoods and create long-term security for their futures.
Dean also gave generously and thoughtfully. His philanthropy was deeply influenced by his friendship with Elmer and Ed Rasmuson of the Alaska-based Rasmuson Foundation, who helped shape his understanding of focused, meaningful giving. Alaska remained especially close to his heart, and he supported communities across the state, including major investments in Native Alaska causes and the Alaska Native Heritage Center. His giving centered on cultural preservation, higher education, city building, and care for people experiencing homelessness. He helped support shelters, permanent supportive housing, youth programs, workforce housing, family services, and community spaces designed to restore dignity and hope.
Colorado Springs, the city that helped shape him, also became a meaningful focus of his reinvestment. He supported public art, open spaces, and downtown revitalization. Over time, he became deeply involved with the region's only professional sports franchise, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. What began as sponsorship grew into ownership, culminating in Dean becoming the club's sole owner in 2025, one year after the Switchbacks won the 2024 USL Championship. Around the newly named Weidner Field, he also helped drive a three-phase mixed-use development that will ultimately bring approximately 1,200 apartment homes and 60,000 square feet of retail to the area, transforming a once-neglected part of the city into a vibrant and connected community. In many ways, it reflected what Dean did best: he saw potential where others saw decline, and he invested in places in a way that helped people imagine more for themselves and their city.
He also believed in investing in the future of his profession. Over his lifetime, he supported the development of real estate and property management programs at six public universities, helping create pathways for students and elevating the industry he loved.
Dean received many honors during his life, but those who knew him best will remember something more personal: his instinct, his attentiveness, his loyalty, and the way he could move from big ideas to deeply human moments without missing a beat. He was a gifted businessman, but he was also a man who remembered details, asked about people's families, and cared in ways that felt real and lasting.
He was a follower of Christ, raised in the Covenant Church, and his faith was quiet but fervent. It showed not in performance, but in the way he lived, gave, and loved.
Dean was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Ana Weidner, and by his parents, Walter and Ruth Weidner. He is survived by his sons, Don Weidner and his wife, Randi, and Chris Weidner and his wife, Heather; his grandchildren, Emma Duncan Weidner and Dallas Weidner; his sisters, Lynn Paydo and her husband, Bobby, and Marthann Dahlen and her husband, Chuck; his niece, Natalia and her husband, John, and his nephew, Erik; and his grand-niece and grand-nephew, Brody and Brielle.
He will be remembered as a builder, a giver, a mentor, a man of faith, and someone whose life left a mark on far more people than he may ever have fully known.