Margaret and Russ have very deep roots in Park Hill and at Montview. Russ has lived in Park Hill for 84 years. The couple married 63 years ago and have been members of Montview for 65 years. They raised their family in Park Hill and continue to live here.

Russ’s family moved to Denver from Illinois when he was 5 years old.  His father began a real estate company in a home on East Colfax and the family lived in the basement.  When Russ was 12, the family moved to Park Hill, one block away from the Wehners’ present home.  Russ cruised these streets on his bike and attended the local schools. 

Margaret’s family were ranchers in the San Luis Valley, having homesteaded in the 1890s.  Margaret grew up riding horses, tending a garden and taking piano lessons.  Her parents moved to Denver so her mother could get better medical care. That  must have worked since she lived until almost 101 years old!  Margaret’s family initially lived in Lakewood until they moved close to the Capitol.  Her father had a position on the Colorado Land Board. 

Both Russ and Margaret grew up during the Depression, which they felt has some similarities to today’s pandemic.  There was not much anyone could do to change the situation, so everyone stayed positive, helped each other and waited out the crisis.

Margaret’s family was very involved in the ranching and farming life of the San Luis Valley.  In the early 1900s, her uncles and father worked with a small group of ranchers to get permission to build a dam on the Rio Grande River and create a new reservoir near Creede for the sole use of local agriculture.  To this day the Rio Grande Reservoir is governed by a local board of directors in spite of the dogged efforts of the Colorado Water Board to gain water rights to that reservoir.  The recreation benefits of the reservoir have also benefitted visitors for 120 years.

Margaret and Russ attended East High School.  Margaret was in the class behind Russ, and she remembers him as the lead in the senior play, the winner of the Shaffroth Speech Contest and a leader in school activities.  To go to college Russ applied for scholarships and decided to go to Yale.  His parents were Christian Scientists and Russ drifted into being an agnostic in college.  While attending Yale Law School, he became friends with Bob Lynn who was in Divinity School.  Bob pressed Russ to attend a weeklong lecture series at Yale featuring a prominent German theologian.  Russ finally relented and went.  The theologian was Paul Tillich and Russ says that lecture series and Tillich’s book, The Courage To Be, “profoundly changed my life.”   Little did Russ know how much one lecture series would enrich his life and those of countless others.

Having returned to Denver, Russ entered the Russ Wehner Realty Co. that his parents had started. Margaret, after graduating from University of Colorado with a teaching degree, went to work in Bakersville, Calif., for two years.  Her classes were completely integrated with a diverse array of children whose families worked in the oil fields of Bakersville.  However, the experience of earthquakes and aftershocks led her to return to Denver. 

Margaret and Russ met again during a double date, but Margaret was the date of Russ’s good friend!  Margaret still remembers how Russ kept them all laughing and her date didn’t stand a chance after that.

Bob Lynn was hired by Rev. Arthur Miller as an assistant pastor at Montview to develop adult education programs just as Russ returned to Denver.  Their friendship deepened and enriched the whole Montview community as they collaborated on innovative programs such as bringing to Denver Montview’s annual Lectureship Series, which was inspired by the one that brought Paul Tillich to Yale in 1953.  In collaboration with Bea Romer and Lova Miller, Margaret worked to initiate a variety of Montview’s women’s groups, the first being the ‘Harried Housewives.’ 

In the mid-60s as the Wehners’ family was growing, some unscrupulous real estate agents were triggering ‘block busting’ in the Park Hill neighborhood. That was a practice of introducing Black families into a white neighborhood to benefit as homeowners grew worried about integrated neighborhoods, fled and sold their homes at reduced prices. In response, the Wehners intentionally bought a family home on Bellaire Street, where they have lived ever since.  Russ convinced the largest real estate agency in Denver at the time, along with all of Park Hill’s churches and community groups, to speak out against this effort to spark white flight. 

Another impact that Russ spearheaded was to establish that buyers of homes be represented by their own real estate agent, which was a new practice in the late 1960s. Russ served four terms on the Colorado Real Estate Commission, and Colorado became the first state to make this standard practice. Through his efforts and those of others promoting this approach at national real estate conferences, the policy was implemented nationally.

The Wehners’ family grew to include four children — three sons and a daughter. Both were very involved in the Boy and Girl Scout programs and their children’s soccer and swim teams.  Family trips in the summer involved camping in National Parks of the West and often in the San Luis Valley.  All of the children and three grandchildren graduated from Park Hill public schools, and three of the four still live close by.  Due to the influence and modeling of Margaret and Russ, the Wehner children do not hesitate to work on local causes to promote positive social justice changes in Denver.

Margaret and Russ have been closely involved with Montview programs, taken on challenging leadership roles, participated in fellowship groups and stepped up to help out countless volunteer efforts.  Russ has served on three Paster Nominating Committees and one term as a Deacon.  Margaret has served as an Elder and a Deacon, and she sang in the Choir for 35 years.  About 16 years ago, Margaret and Bea Romer founded the Park Hill Elementary Tutoring Program, which paired Montview volunteers with elementary students for after-school support.  Some of the students have kept in touch with Margaret and shared their successes as they became young adults.  Margaret and Russ have worked with the Women’s Homeless Initiative every Monday evening the program is hosted by Montview.  Russ regularly leads adult education classes and Lenten Series programs.

Margaret and Russ have run the Russ Wehner Real Estate Company together.  Margaret has had her real estate license for 50 years.  They have traveled with small groups to countries all over the world, been involved in the lives of their grandchildren, friends and neighbors, keenly follow national and local events and are committed to promoting social justice far and wide.

After one Lectureship Series, Russ and Margaret were driving Marcus Borg to the airport when Russ took the opportunity to ask him to repeat the quote that he recites at each of his lectures.  Marcus quickly wrote it down and a framed copy of it is on the Wehners’ breakfast table.

“Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us.  So be swift to love and make haste to be kind.” — Henri Amiel, Theologian. December, 1864