Verner Z. Reed

Verner Zevola Reed was born in Richland County, Ohio on October 13, 1863. and attended two terms at the Eastern Iowa Normal School. ==Career==

Business After a brief period working as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, He began writing promotional brochures for tourists. He then owned and operated a real estate office. Over his career, he was also involved in banking, manufacturing, ranching, land reclamation, and irrigation enterprises in Colorado, Wyoming, and other states. ==Personal life==

Reed lived with his family until 1893, when he married Mary (Johnson) Reed. He died in Coronado, California on April 20, 1919. He left his wife an estate valued at approximately $20 million () which she used in the pursuit of various philanthropic endeavors in the Colorado community, such as Margery Reed Hall and construction of a new library on the campus of the University of Denver. The Denver Post once cited her as "Colorado's richest widow". Although she gave a lot of money to philanthropic endeavors, she was able to add $6 million to the estate before she died in 1945. ==References==