Anna Sie, Denver philanthropist and champion of Down Syndrome research, dies at 78

Anna Maria Sie lived the ultimate American dream.

Together, for 56 years, she and her husband, John J. Sie, both immigrants to the U.S., built a family in Colorado during his successful career in cable television.

Over the last 20 years, she became known as a generous philanthropist in Denver’s arts, film and academic spaces, and she built a legacy of work funding Down syndrome research.

“She’s kind and compassionate and supportive,” John Sie said. “A champion to those in need.”

Anna Sie died Sept. 20 at her home surrounded by her family. She was 78 years old.

She was diagnosed with endometrial cancer nearly a decade ago in December 2013.

Anna Sie immigrated from Naples, Italy, by ship with her father and two older brothers in 1955 and John Sie came from China five years before her.

For several years, while her family in the U.S. saved money to send for her mother, older sister and two younger brothers still in Italy, Anna Sie cooked, cleaned and became a translator for the family.

She was a switchboard operator when she met her husband, and through John Sie’s career-building, Anna Sie was the constant “guiding light” for the family.

After the two married, John Sie during his career helped build Showtime through Telecommunication Inc. and founded the Starz and Encore channels, but it was Anna Sie who inspired his entrepreneurship in television.

“It was her love of film that really guided me through my career,” John Sie said. “For the last 56 years, she immeasurably contributed to the welfare of all she touched. I’m forever grateful for those precious years.”

It was that work ethic and her strength and compassion that inspired her large family.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by five children: Susan Sie, Dr. Debbie Sie (Justin Hoffman), James Sie (Doug Wood), Michelle Sie Whitten (Tom Whitten) and Allison Sie Hildestad (Orin Hildestad); six grandchildren: Ben Sie, Shaela Hoffman, Sophia and Patrick Whitten, Silas and Freyja Hildestad; five siblings, Sabatino Maglione, Rosa Del Tufo, Ciro Maglione, Tony Maglione, and Sal Maglione, and dozens of in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins.

“She’s my hero,” Sie Whitten said. “We have walked this path with her for 10 years since she got diagnosed. (She had) so much grace in the face of death every year. She was so strong right until the end.”

Throughout Anna Sie’s life in Denver, she was known for her generosity and kindness.

As the film lover her husband knew her as, Anna Sie, with John Sie, was a big supporter of Denver’s film scene, helping establish the Sie FilmCenter at 2510 E. Colfax Ave., the only nonprofit independent movie house in metro Denver.

“The two of them saw that as a need for our organization to have a truly independent art house cinema. We are so grateful for their contributions to make it happen,” Kevin Smith, CEO of Denver Film, said.

In 2008, Anna Sie created the Maria and Tommaso Maglione Italian Filmmaker Award within the Denver Film Festival to recognize the best Italian language films. Sie not only funded the award, named after her film-buff parents, she also helped judge the competition.

“She had an uncanny eye for spotting talent. She would go through the process with us and watch a ton of films and help us select,” Smith said.

Smith said the Sies channeled some of the money made through providing movies on cable via the Starz channel back into strengthening Colorado’s cinema culture. Their contributions will continue for years to come through an endowment the couple created.

“For me, it was one of those serendipitous things. I find it interesting that film was such a passionate part of it all. When you look at her life, it could have been a movie,” he said.

Anna Sie’s love of film extended to the couple’s support of Denver’s scene by establishing the Sie FilmCenter at 2510 E. Colfax Ave., the only nonprofit independent movie house in metro Denver.

“Anna was an elegant and gracious presence in all her interactions with the museum,” said Christoph Heinrich, the Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum. “Alongside her husband, John, her boundless generosity and enthusiasm for being a welcoming place for all will have a positive impact in our community for generations to come.”

Additionally in the Colorado community, Anna endowed the Anna Maglione-Sie Chair in Italian Language and Literature at the University of Denver and the Dan and Boyce Sher Chair at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music.

As impactful as her philanthropy has been to Denver’s arts and academic communities, it’s through her contributions to advance Down syndrome research her family and friends said she leaves the biggest legacy.

“Without her, we wouldn’t have some of the resources we now have in Denver,” Sharon Magness Blake, one of Anna Sie’s best friends, said. “She made a huge impact.”

One of Anna Sie’s granddaughters has Down syndrome, and, seeing the gap in academic research when the family started looking for resources, she got to work to fix that.

“She realized there was a void, so she, her husband and (Sie Whitten), they all worked very hard for 20 years advancing research and care,” Magness Blake said.

The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation in 2008 was the founding donor for the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, which is one of the only academic centers fully dedicated to Down syndrome research and is now the largest geographic cluster of Down syndrome researchers in the world.

A year later, the family founded the GLOBAL Down Syndrome Foundation nonprofit to further support education and advocacy of Down Syndrome and additionally founded the Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center, Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and the pilot GLOBAL Adult Down Syndrome Center at Denver Health.

“From my perspective, with that idea that every person counts, we can help a lot of people if we set our minds to it,” said Sie Whitten, who is also the president and CEO of the GLOBAL Down Syndrome Foundation. “She has been very protective of (people with Down syndrome) in terms of inclusion and discrimination, but also to make sure they can live much longer and healthier lives.”

She also provided the seed funding to start the GLOBAL Inclusive Program, the first post-secondary program for students with intellectual disabilities at a Jesuit University and the second at a Catholic University in the U.S.

On top of Sie’s devotion to her family and her philanthropic work, she was one of the most dependable friends someone could have, according to Magness Blake.

“She was always there when you needed someone to talk to, and was very generous with her time,” Magness Blake said. “She took being a friend seriously. She would do just about anything to help you. It was comforting to know there was somebody out there who would go to such lengths to help you.”

Magness Blake said she will remember her friend as an amazing lady with elegance.

“She was a very regal, great lady,” she said. “One of a kind. She would laugh at my saying that, but she really was.”

Services for Anna Sie will be at 10 a.m., Thursday at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, 1530 Logan St., in Denver.

In lieu of flowers, Anna asked that donations in her memory be sent to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation at www.globaldownsyndrome.org or mailed to 3239 E. 2nd Avenue, Denver, CO 80206.

Staff writer Aldo Svaldi contributed to this story.

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