El Pomar Board of Trustees

Judy Bell was President of the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 1996 and 1997, the first woman to hold that position and one of only two in USGA history. Born in Wichita, Kansas, Judy played her first Broadmoor Invitation Tournament at age 11 and won that competition in 1957, 1958 and 1960. She competed in 38 USGA events and and was the first woman on the USGA Executive Committee in 1987. Judy has been inducted into 14 golf and sports halls of fame including World Golf Hall of Fame, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. In 2015, she was made an honorary member of R&A Golf Club of St. Andrews and received the Bob Jones Award in 2016, the highest honor awarded by the USGA. She served as a director of Bank One from 1982 to 1995 and operated Bell’s Deli as well as several other Colorado Springs retail businesses. 

Karl E. Eitel, hired as resident manager of The Broadmoor in 1961, gained his experience in hotel management at the Cosmopolitan in Denver and  Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco. He was born in Chicago on December 26, 1928, and graduated from Michigan State University in 1951. His business affiliations included director of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and several hotel management associations. As hotel manager he organized many national and international events at The Broadmoor. He served on the boards of Colorado Ski Country, Inc., Colorado Golf Association, and Fountain Valley School. “Things have changed a lot,” Eitel said of El Pomar. “Now we are much more proactive. We reach out into the community and see what we can do rather than wait for people to come to us. In the old days we were good at giving money away - now we have a lot of programs that go out into the community. We also publicize far more than we used to. We want people to know what we are and what we do. El Pomar today is far better known that it was before.” The Karl E. Eitel Fund was created by El Pomar after his death in 1998, and for 25 years supported youth-serving organizations across Colorado.

Robert J. Hilbert was a native of Denver, Colorado. He joined the Foundation in 1987, and served as corporate secretary, treasurer, and vice-president for administration for a number of years. He was responsible for directing the foundation’s financial and accounting activities, tax matters, and internal administrative activities associated with the grantmaking programs, personnel, and office administration. Hilbert was a Certified Public Accountant and a 1970 graduate of the University of Colorado. His professional experience included revenue agent for the Internal Revenue Service, supervising tax specialist of Coopers & Lybrand, vice-president and executive director of the Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation, secretary-treasurer of the Piton Foundation, and executive vice-president of the United States Olympic Foundation. He was active with the Colorado Association of Foundations and served on its executive committee. He was also a member of the board and secretary-treasurer of the Colorado Springs World Arena and a trustee and board chair of Pikes Peak United Way. He  served as an adjunct professor in the graduate programs of nonprofit management at both University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Regis College.

Charles L. Tutt II, son of Spencer Penrose’s first business partner Charles L. Tutt, was born January 9, 1889. He completed his high school education at The Thatcher School in Ojai, CA in 1906. Three years later, his father died. Rather than attend college, Charles immediately began working for Spencer Penrose. He also served as an army captain during World War I. He was trusted by the Penroses to direct and oversee much of their business affairs. He oversaw construction of The Broadmoor and held leadership positions with several Penrose-created organizations, including president of The Broadmoor, president and chairman of El Pomar Investment Company, and chairman of the Mount Manitou Park Incline Railway, Pikes Peak Automobile Company, and Garden City Company, among others. He was one of the original five trustees of El Pomar Foundation appointed by Spencer Penrose in 1937. He became president of El Pomar after Julie’s death in 1956. Charles mentored his sons William Thayer and Russell Thayer to continue his dedicated work to the Penrose legacy.

Russell Thayer Tutt, son of Charles L. Tutt II, was born July 27, 1913. He graduated from Princeton University in 1936 and served as an army major during World War II, receiving the Bronze Star. Russell joined El Pomar Foundation as a Trustee in 1956, serving alongside his father and his brother Thayer. During his time with the Foundation, Russell was instrumental in helping bring the U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Air Force Academy to include the construction of its visitor center and stadium, and other military installations to Colorado Springs. Russell was Vice President, President, and Chairman of El Pomar for periods between 1956 until his death in 1992. During this period, he also served as Vice President, President, Chairman for The Broadmoor. In 1977, he was named the Colorado Springs Business Citizen of the Year. He also made significant contributions to Colorado College, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, First National Bank, and Fountain Valley School through his board service with those organizations.

William Thayer Tutt, son of Charles L. Tutt II, was born March 2, 1912. Thayer studied accounting and business administration and worked various positions at The Broadmoor. After his service as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Corps, he rose up in the ranks at The Broadmoor succeeding his father as president. In his roles as president and chairman of The Broadmoor, he oversaw major expansions of the hotel. In 1954, Thayer became a Trustee of El Pomar Foundation, serving alongside his father and Julie Penrose. He later served as chairman. Alongside his brother Russell, Thayer was influential in bringing the U.S. Air Force Academy to Colorado Springs in the 1950s as well as the U.S. Olympic Committee in the 1970s. He also shepherded amateur sport in the region, serving as President of the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Amateur Hockey Association, chairman of the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, and director of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, U.S. Olympic Committee, and International Olympic Committee (IOC). He was recognized in 1987 with the Olympic Order, the IOC’s highest honor of distinction.

William “Bill” Ward is the retired President of Ward Transport, Inc., a family-owned trucking company, and is a past Chairman of the American Trucking Association. Bill’s activity in the nonprofit sector includes serving as Chair of the Colorado College Board of Trustees. In that capacity, he was actively involved in a record-setting capital campaign of $93 million and provided leadership during a successful presidential transition. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of Denver Seminary, twice serving as its Chair.

Bill grew up in Pueblo and attended Colorado College, graduating in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He received a juris doctor from the University of Colorado in 1967.

Joel Webb, a member of one of the city’s oldest banking families, was born May 2, 1913 in Colorado Springs. His grandfather, Joel Addison Hayes, was president of  First National Bank of Colorado Springs from 1896 to 1919 and his uncle, Jefferson Hayes Davis, was vice president of the bank from 1930 to 1954. His father was famed tuberculosis physician Dr. Gerald Webb, who invested in several of Spencer Penrose’s projects including The Broadmoor hotel. His maternal great-grandfather was Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. Joel Webb started his lifelong career at First National Bank in 1935 while attending Colorado College. He was elected bank chairman in 1966 and held that position until his retirement in 1975. As an El Pomar trustee, Webb advocated health care, hospitals, and care for the less fortunate.

Ben Wendelken, regarded as “one of the best legal minds in the West,” was born September 10, 1899, in Colorado Springs. He was a construction worker building The Broadmoor in 1916, then served in WWI prior to graduating Colorado College at age 23, received a law degree from the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the Colorado bar in 1925. During his 60-year career as a trial lawyer, Wendelken handled over 1,000 cases. He was city attorney for Colorado Springs from 1932 to 1947 and The Broadmoor’s corporate lawyer for 50 years. “Ben Wendelken was a great influence, a pillar of strength,” recalled Trustee Karl Eitel. “He was a steadying influence between Russell and Thayer. He also always brought back the fact that we were the Trustees and legatees and reminded us to do what Spencer Penrose would have wished.”