Arthur Russell Stapp

Art was born on May 7, 1949, to Robert (Bob) Arthur Stapp, Sr., and Amelia (Amy) Carolyn (née Sigwart) Stapp in Denver, Colorado.

Art attended Lakewood High School where he was an Honor Roll student and played football, basketball, and baseball. Art went on to attend Colorado College where he majored in Economics, was a member of R.O.T.C., played football and baseball, and ran track. After Colorado College, Art completed several courses towards his Masters of Business degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

On June 10, 1972, Art married Debbi Louise (née Rillos) of Golden, Colorado. Together, they had three children: Brion Arthur Stapp, Kyle Patrick Stapp, and Clinton (Clint) Kyle Stapp.

Art is survived by his wife Debbi; son Brion and his wife Elizabeth (Liz) (née Cole) Stapp of Niwot, Colorado; son Clint and his wife Ashley (née Koepp) Stapp of Mead, Colorado; and his six grandchildren: Madeline (Maddi) Sarah Stapp and Andrew (Drew) Clinton Stapp, both of Niwot, and Brennar Matthew Stapp, Brilee Grace Stapp, Bryden Luke Stapp, and Brexten Jacob Stapp, all of Mead.

He is also survived by his brother Robert (Bob) Arthur Stapp, Jr., and his wife Catherine (Cathy) Smith-Stapp of Denver, Colorado; his brother-in-law, Joseph (Joe) Rillos and his wife Deborah (Debbie) (née Yocum) Rillos of Golden, Colorado; his sister-in-law Cindy Rillos of Longmont, Colorado; his brother-in-law Kip Rillos and his wife Kari (née Richardson) Rillos of Steamboat, Colorado; and several nieces and nephews.

Art was preceded in death by his son Kyle Patrick Stapp of Longmont, Colorado; his father Robert (Bob) Arthur Stapp, Sr., and mother Amelia (Amy) Carolyn (née Sigwart) Stapp both of Longmont, Colorado; and his father-in-law Louis (Lou) Rillos and mother-in-law June Amarallys (née Irish) Rillos both of Golden, Colorado.

At Lakewood High School, Art excelled as a three-sport athlete. In football, he was selected by the Denver Post for the All-Star Football Team. In basketball, Art was selected to the Denver Post All-State Basketball Team, All-Conference Team, and the Rocky Mountain News Jefferson County Prep All-League Basketball First Team. In baseball, he was named to the All-State Team, was a Suburban All-Star, and was selected as a member of the Denver Metropolitan High School All-Star Baseball Team.

At Colorado College, Art was a standout student-athlete, earning the starting spot at Quarterback for the Tigers. At various points, Art was a nationally-ranked Quarterback in total offense points. He was known for being an exceptionally fast and fiercely competitive athlete. These characteristics eventually earned him a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys.

All of Art’s boys shared their father’s passion for athletics and participated in local youth athletic programs. Brion and Clint ultimately became Division 1 athletes: Brion played Quarterback at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Clint played Quarterback at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.

In 1971, after graduating from Colorado College, Art briefly worked for the Denver Water Board. Shortly after, his father Bob, Sr., approached him about an opportunity to purchase a Toyota franchise in Longmont. At the time, Art was working at Lyons Toyota while pursuing his MBA.

In 1974, Art and his father Bob, Sr., purchased Longmont Toyota. They ran the store for many years at 116 S Main St. in Longmont with only Bob, Sr., Art, Amy, and a small handful of employees. Bob, Jr., joined the family business several years later.

In 1988, the Stapps were awarded a Mazda franchise, which was located just north of their Toyota store. For many years, both stores were run with a small team of exceptional people. Art’s dealerships received 17 Toyota President's Awards, 3 Mazda President's Awards of Honor, and numerous other accolades from Toyota and Mazda.

Art took immense pride in continuing to work six days a week throughout his entire career. He remained readily available to help navigate his dealerships through unexpected adversity and challenges. He remained a positive, patient, and honest man and a source of wisdom and guidance for all of his employees, whom he considered family. Brion and Clint soon joined the family business after graduating college.

In 2007, the time had come for Longmont Toyota to take the next step and build a new facility that would be able to service the Stapp family of current and future customers. The decision was made to build a new store on Interstate 25 in Frederick, Colorado. Stapp Interstate Toyota was born and was the first Toyota Image 2 dealership in the state. Art’s vision for the new location was to provide a state-of-the-art facility that could grow with the community for generations to come.

Even though the building and location had changed, Art’s ideals and values remained a vital part of the business. To quote Art, “[the dealership’s] work brings the human family closer together. We want consistency between our plans and our actions. We act as partners with our customers.”

Soon, Art’s commitment to the community evolved in scope and scale to match the needs of an even larger community. In 2016, the Stapp Inspires Campaign was born to formalize Art’s mission to be a caring, contributing member of the community. Since that time, and through the hard work and dedication of his wife, Debbi, the Stapp Inspires Campaign has contributed well over a million dollars to the following organizations: A Woman’s Work, the Children’s Hospital, BridgeHouse, Roberta’s Legacy, Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center, Centennial State Ballet, Longmont Community Justice Partnership, Happy Smackah Fun Run, Able to Sail Youth Empowerment Camp, Habitat for Humanity for the St. Vrain Valley, Rise Against Suicide, Truth North Young Adult Services, Ocean First Institute, Intercambio, Colorado Friendship Mobile Food and Clothing, Firehouse Art Center, I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County, Imagine!, the Longmont Chorale, the Inn Between of Longmont, TLC Learning Center, H.O.P.E. (Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement), Longmont Symphony, Blue Sky Bridge, Parlando School of Music, Longmont Humane Society, Longmont Meals on Wheels, Arts Longmont, and many more.

Throughout his life, Art was adamant about building opportunities for children through education and athletics. Each of his three boys was educated in the St. Vrain Valley School District public school system, which soon became the locus for his contributions. One project in particular that amplified Art’s long-term partnership with the St. Vrain Valley School District emerged when his son Clint was attending Niwot High School. At that time, the athletic department was in desperate need of infrastructure to support the athletic talent and accomplishments of its athletes. Art was a key driver in building a team of passionate and committed parents to fund the building of a new weight room facility.

Throughout the years to follow, Art continued to partner with the St. Vrain Valley School District by supporting the Future-Ready Innovation Lab, sponsoring athletic teams, bands, and proms, and building numerous athletic scoreboards for local schools, gyms, and fields. Art also took great pride in the Stapp Inspire’s Eductor’s Spotlight Program, which highlighted exceptional educators and staff making a difference in their community, one student at a time.

To everyone that met him, Art became a dear friend and close confidante. Despite the enormity of his impact on his community, Art took great pride in providing personal time, attention, and assistance to countless individuals, quietly, leaving no trace of himself behind in his enormous generosity and support.

To his family, Art will be remembered as one of the last true cowboys, a loving and dedicated family man who took great pride watching his two sons excel at work and his grandchildren play baseball, football, basketball, and golf, ride horses, perform in plays, sing songs, and excel academically. Art left his mark on each of his six grandchildren, who continue to resemble him not only physically, but through their relentless pursuit of excellence in all they do.

Art’s causa vitae was to be a caretaker to his family to ensure that each was able to live the life they wanted in comfort and peace. However, his greatest source of joy in life was his beloved wife, Debbi of over 50 years, who he remained deeply in love with until his last breath. To him, Debbi made every day brighter, gave him a reason to laugh and smile, filled every room with joy, and made all of his dreams and life’s ambitions possible. As they grew in age together, the two truly became one. You could not think of Art without thinking of Debbi, and Debbi, Art. Theirs was a rare partnership that grew stronger through grief and tragedy, inspiring everyone who knew them to persevere and survive the darkest of times.

A private visitation for close friends and family will be held at Howe Mortuary & Crematory in Longmont, Colorado. A public memorial service will be held at LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont, Colorado on Tuesday, August 1st, at 10 am, with a reception to follow. To Live Stream the service, please go to www.ckpmediaservices.com/live.

A private interment for family will take place at Mountain View Cemetery in Longmont, Colorado, where Art will be laid to rest next to his beloved son, Kyle.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Roberta’s Legacy, which helps breast cancer patients and their families in their time of need.