John Sayre, a longtime partner in the Denver firm Davis Graham and Stubbs, was recognized Sept. 18 for his years of accomplishment in the legal profession and in public service by the University of Colorado School of Law.
Sayre received the law school's highest honor, the William Lee Knous award, named for former governor and CU alumnus William Lee Knous. It was Sayre聮s second major award from the CU Law School. In 1994, he received the CU Law Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement in Government and Public Service.
He also was the featured "Living Legends in Western Water" speaker at the Western State College 1999 Colorado Water Workshop.
"With the help of my wife and family, my fellow lawyers and my friends, I聮ve had a most rewarding and enjoyable life," Sayre said.
His career in law followed a brief stint in the U. S. Navy during World War II, during which Sayre was stationed in the South Pacific. He suffered injuries when his minesweeper struck a mine while clearing the beaches and waters near Guam.
The abrupt end of his naval career brought Sayre back to his native Boulder, where he enrolled at the CU School of Law. Prior to the war, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics, cum laude, from CU.
In 1948 he earned his juris doctor degree from CU and began a general practice that year. He married Jean Miller of Fort Morgan and served on the Boulder Board of Education for six years beginning in 1951 while raising his family.
Sayre's legal practice later emphasized water, municipal and real estate law. He served as Boulder City Attorney from 1952 to 1955 before joining the natural resources department at Davis Graham & Stubbs in Denver, where he would specialize in water and municipal corporate work.
Sayre then took a four-year hiatus from the firm in 1989 when President George Bush appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science. Sayre was a 30-year member of the Colorado Water Congress and an active member of the National Water Resources Association.
He was named director of the NWRA聮s Colorado chapter in 1980, and president in 1984. Sayre continues to practice at Davis Graham and Stubbs and lives with his wife Jean in Denver.