Obituary of Stephen Anthony Prokopiak

Stephen Anthony Prokopiak
(October 25, 1951 - May 19, 2023)

Stephen Anthony Prokopiak, 71, of Broomfield, Colorado passed away on May 19, 2023, due to a neuro-muscular disease.

The funeral service will be held at 11AM on June 15, 2023 at Spirit of Christ. Father Greg Ames of the Denver Archdiocese will be officiating. Burial will be at the Broomfield Commons Cemetery at East 9th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Funeral arrangements are being handled by All States Cremation.

Stephen A. Prokopiak was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey on October 25, 1951. He graduated from Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen, New Jersey and continued on to receive both a BSCE (1973) and MSCE from Newark College of Engineering in Newark, New Jersey.

Stephen was married to Rita Zimbelman on July 9, 1983; they were happily married for over 39 years and had one son, Stephen Christopher.

Initially Stephen began his professional career in New Jersey as an engineer until he relocated to Colorado in 1977. Stephen then worked as an engineer, manager and Vice-President for Greiner Engineering for 13 years before starting his own development management company in early 1989. Shortly thereafter he joined his largest client, Centre Communities, as Development Manager where he partnered for over 25 years leading the development of over 14,000 single family residential units as well as several commercial/retail pads throughout the Denver Metropolitan area. He enjoyed travelling with his wife throughout the world, cruising on European rivers, genealogy research and “putzing” around the house. He was also actively involved in HomeAid Colorado as a Board member for approximately 15 years and board member / volunteer at Hope House Colorado since 2015. He managed the overall construction of the Hope House Resource Center and the initial phases of the new Hope House Early Learning Center.
 

Stephen believed he fulfilled his purpose on earth through his loving marriage to Rita, to helping Rita raise their wonderful and successful son, Chris, through his long-term commitment to developing places for people to live, his dedication to HomeAid and their homelessness mission and finally to Hope House Colorado and their mission of serving hundreds of parenting mothers and their children. With his wife, Rita, they agreed to set up and fund a Prokopiak Family Scholarship at the University of Kansas for Colorado students.

Stephen is survived by Rita, his beloved wife of over 39 years, his son Stephen Christopher and several cousins.

Stephen is preceded in death by his grandparents, his mother Stephanie Sharo Prokopiak (Delray Beach, Florida), and father Stephen Chester Prokopiak (Edison, New Jersey) as well as his sister, Kathleen Prokopiak (Cape Coral, Florida). While Stephen enjoyed travelling throughout the world with his wife Rita, he especially enjoyed visiting his cousin Diane LoPresti and her husband in Estero, Florida; family throughout the US and all his second cousins in Poland. One of the highlights of his retirement was discovering, meeting and communicating with his “cousins” in Poland. His Prokopiak family tree project currently has over 250 members.
 

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be given to Hope House Colorado. 

Visit http://hopehousecolorado.org/donate-now/ and choose “In Memory of Steve Prokopiak” as the reason why you donated. The family of Stephen wishes to thank Swedish Medical Center, St. Anthony’s Hospital, Hope House Colorado, HomeAid, and the University of Kansas.