Arthur Travers Obituary

Arthur Hopkins Travers II, also known as Art or Grandpa Ott, died peacefully on July 31, 2025, two days after his 89th birthday.

Arthur was born on July 29, 1936, in Gary, Indiana. He attended Grinnell College and Harvard Law School and first worked at a law firm in Chicago before deciding to teach law instead. He worked at the University of Kansas, and taught business law, contracts, and mergers. After four years, in 1970, he moved to the University of Colorado, where he taught law until his retirement. He married Judy Brean, whom he met at Harvard, and they had two daughters. They later divorced. He married Laurie Sachs in 1985, and they lived in Boulder, Colorado for the next forty years, except for a wonderful sabbatical year they spent in London while Arthur studied the English legal system.

Arthur was a voracious reader and owned thousands of books. He loved music, ranging from classical and jazz to Billy Idol, movies, dogs, and baseball, and particularly the Chicago Cubs. He was a history buff, with interests in the Civil War and World War II and visited battlefields on vacations, sometimes mixed in with spring league baseball games. He loved cooking and made many wonderful meals for his family and friends and enjoyed passing down his culinary knowledge to his grandchildren. Arthur was a thoughtful, kind, and compassionate man, with a wonderful sense of humor. His family and friends treasured their time with him and will deeply miss him.

Arthur is survived by his wife, Laurie Travers, and his daughters Constance Travers (and her husband Richard McDonald), of Boulder, CO, and Anne Travers (and her fiancé David Purdy) of Louisville, CO, and grandchildren Sam Rygiewicz, Megan Rygiewicz, Lauren Kempton (and her husband Ryan Ahern), Diana Kempton, Torin McDonald, Liam McDonald and Ailish McDonald, as well as his niece Deborah Smith (and her husband Peter Smith) and their children (Nathan, Brandon, and Liam).

A memorial will be scheduled at a later date.