The Inspiring Impact of an Unknown Hero

Each year I reflect on another year of ZIM. On September 15, ZIM Consulting will turn 19 years old. I could spend this entire blog talking about the amazing impact we have had, the hundreds of organizations supported, or the millions of lives positively changed by our work. But I won’t. On this anniversary, I would like to honor the life of a dear friend, who helped lay the foundation for who we are and all that we have accomplished.

In ZIM’s early days, we decided that we needed an advisory board to guide us through the initial ups and downs of our business. We wanted this group hold us accountable, to ask us difficult questions, and to tell us when we were going astray. The board we created had highly connected, super-intelligent, and fiercely loyal advocates who wanted us to succeed. One of those amazing people was Darl Hobson.

Darl was an Army engineer who oversaw a rocket program at NORAD. After the military he became a successful banker and eventually an entrepreneur. During his career he was a founder of two significant westside nonprofits, the Seniors Resource Center and The Action Center (formerly the Jeffco Action Center). He was a dedicated member of the Kiwanis and helped with the building of two astronomy buildings at the Jefferson County Outdoor Lab Schools. These charitable acts alone would be enough for anyone. But Darl did much, much more.

In 1987, Colorado regulators were forced to seize control of several mortgage banks and ordered others that did not have federal deposit insurance to stop accepting new deposits, triggering a liquidity crisis. This was part of the nationwide Savings and Loan (S&L) crisis. The crisis was worsened by the collapse of Colorado's oil and gas market, which caused a drop in commercial real estate prices. This left many S&Ls with devalued collateral and led to widespread bank failures. Many depositors in state-insured banks, which were not backed by FDIC, lost their life savings.

Colorado’s legislature put out a call for help and Darl recruited an accountant, a lawyer, and a collections expert to create a Financial Management Task Force responsible for raising the many tens of millions of dollars to pay back depositors the money they lost. Darl’s group came up with ingenious ways to raise funds from nothing. From auctioning off the right for a national bank to come to Colorado years before any others could enter the market, to changing laws to free up funds that were sitting in limbo but could not be touched. In the end, Darl’s group was able to raise enough money to pay back every depositor the exact amount that they lost. In today’s money, they raised approximately $200,000,000 from nothing!  

Darl was also an accomplished educator, teaching at universities around the world and inspired multiple generations through his commitment to serving other and serving as a long-time president of the Rocky Mountain United Methodist Conference Foundation. 

At ZIM, we were moved by Darl’s generosity, counsel, ability to ask difficult questions and unwavering support and belief in the power of helping people. Darl recently passed away at the age of 88 and we will be attending his memorial service just a few days before our anniversary. Darl’s legacy lives on in the organizations that he founded and supported, including ZIM, in the hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods were recovered and saved by his genius, and in our hearts and memories as he continues to inspire us at ZIM as to the power of making our world a better place. As was quoted in his Denver Post Obituary, “Dear God, thanks for letting me visit – I had a great time.” Rest peacefully, Darl, and thank you for everything.