DOLORES KOPEL PAPERS

Dolores Blanche Blanke Kopel was born January 8, 1931 in Emmetsburg, Iowa, the only child of Cornelius and Bess Blanche Blanke. She attended a one-room schoolhouse from first through eighth grade in Iowa. Her family moved to Colorado Springs in 1945 where she attended Colorado Springs High School She graduated in 1948. Entering a six-year program, Kopel attended the University of Colorado from 1948 to 1951 and the University of Denver College of Law from 1951 to 1954. She passed the Colorado bar exam in 1954 and set up a private law practice.

When Kopel's husband, Gerald Kopel passed the Colorado Bar in 1958, the couple established Kopel and Kopel. They organized a bar refresher course for students preparing to take the Colorado bar exam. Dolores Kopel also wrote articles, lectured and taught courses at the University of Denver College of Law.

Judge Benjamin Hilliard appointed Dolores Kopel to serve on a panel of ten bankruptcy trustees in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. She served until 1975. In 1979, the U.S. Congress passed the New Bankruptcy Reform Act and U.S. Attorney General appointed Dolores Kopel to served as one of ten United States Trustees. Her jurisdiction included Colorado and Kansas. In May 1986, Dolores Kopel resigned her position and returned to private practice.

Active in numerous organizations, Kopel was president of the University of Denver Metro Law Alumni from 1976 to 1978. She served several terms on the Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors. Governor Richard Lamm appointed her as the public member of the Real Estate Commission. She also volunteered for the Park Hill Action Committee and the Democratic Party.

Dolores Kopel married Gerald Koplowitz in 1952. In 1957, they changed their last name from Koplowitz to Kopel. They had two children, David and Stephen. Stephen died in 1987. David, an attorney, resided in Boulder, Colorado as of 2010. Dolores and Gerald Kopel are retired and residing in Denver, Colorado as of 2010.