Historical Award Descriptions

The Selma Lock Volunteer of the Year Award is named after one of the Democratic Party of Denver’s most dedicated volunteers. Selma Lock served as a precinct committee person, a House District captain, and was a member of the Denver Executive and Colorado Central Committees. She played an instrumental role in the elections of Mayor Federico Peña, Congresswomen Diana DeGette and Pat Schroeder, and President Bill Clinton. In 1982 she filled a vacancy in the Colorado House of Representatives for a short time. Selma Lock was a delegate to four Democratic National Conventions, she served on the national rules committee, and she was a Colorado Presidential elector. In 1994 she was given the Democratic of the Year award by the Colorado Democratic Party, and in 2000, she received an Honorable Tribute in the U.S. Congressional Record by Congresswoman DeGette. Her true passion in life was politics, and she always went above and beyond to ensure Democratic victories locally, statewide, and nationally. It is in the spirit of Selma Lock and her dedication to the principles of the Democratic Party, that the Denver party awards its’ Volunteer of the Year award each year.   

In 1973 Pat Schroeder was the first female-elected member of the U.S. Congress from Colorado, a campaign she won over a freshman Republican incumbent. She served in the first Congressional District, primarily located in Denver, and was reelected another eleven times, until retiring in 1997. In Congress, she became the first woman to serve on the House Armed Services Committee, and also had a brief Presidential run in 1988. This award, however, recognizes Congresswoman Schroeder's work for families in Denver, Colorado, and the United States. She was a prime supporter and advocate for the Family Medical Leave Act, passed into law in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton, which, in part, gave employees the right to take leave from work to care for a sick family member or a new child. It is in this spirit of Congresswoman Schroeder’s work for families nationwide, that the Democratic Party of Denver recognizes an outstanding individual who dedicates themselves to the betterment of families each year. 

Dale Tooley was a Denver native and an avid Democrat. In the 1960s he was a Denver Committeeman, Treasurer and two-term Chair of the County Party, and was thrice elected Denver District Attorney beginning in 1973. During his eleven years of dedicated public service, Dale established and maintained the highest standards of justice for all throughout the legal system, not just in Denver, but by example and reputation throughout Colorado. He spearheaded much needed reforms in Colorado’s archaic sexual assault laws, and imposed mandatory sentencing for violent crimes involving the use of a deadly weapon. He also established standards for the decent treatment of victims and witnesses and created Denver’s victim compensation program, which led to a statewide victim compensation law. He created programs for rape prevention, neighborhood watches and “juvenile diversion,” and established the first Domestic Violence Unit in Colorado. Dale believed that there was no higher calling or greater privilege than public service in pursuit of justice. By example and through his outstanding leadership, he dedicated his life to improving the public good, and he set the bar for “justice for all” for the people of Denver, for Colorado, and throughout the United States. Mr. Tooley died on April 1, 1985, of cancer, three months after finishing “I’d Rather Be in Denver,” a first-person, often humorous account of his many accomplishments. Today we still honor him with the Dale Tooley Cancer Research Support Fund, which supports research and studies on cancer treatments and cures. It is in the spirit of Dale Tooley and his tireless service to Denver and to the Democratic Party, that we give our Democrat of the Year award each year. 

 The Frank Sullivan Award for Lifetime Achievement

Frank Sullivan was born and raised in Fall River, Massachusetts -- a mill town bordering Rhode Island, where his mother worked as a hairdresser and his father tended bar. Though his father died too young, he left his teenage son an immigrant's legacy -- an abiding understanding that political involvement is the most important aspect of American citizenship, the recognition that noble political goals are collective, and the knowledge that the vote is the surest guarantee of liberty. Frank was raised by his paternal grandmother and thus learned to respect family, and also to look past his own streets and so value diversity. Enlistment had its attractions after high school, but it meant being told what to do all the time. College, though it meant paying his own way, was the path Frank chose, and he earned a bachelor's degree in science. In 1960 he married a beautiful French-Portuguese pianist named Sylvia Mithers, and took a master's degree in Chemistry from Boston College. By 1963, he had earned a doctorate in Anatomy and Physiology, as well as an Assistant Professorship at Providence College, and had a son. In 1966 they moved to Fairbanks, Alaska where Air Force offered to fund his cold-weather experiments. In 1968 they adopted a daughter, and in order to do experiments at altitude, moved to Colorado. By 1973 the Sullivans had put down deep Park Hill roots, so when his Army laboratory moved to San Antonio, he left Federal employment and taught for the next 27 years at Front Range Community College. Liberated from the Hatch Act, Frank was finally free to practice partisan politics and he become the zealous populist he remains today, a reluctant leader who will not allow his fellow Democrats to forget that their best expression is in service of the people for whom the American Dream is yet a hope. In 2008, Frank was awarded the Democratic Party of Denver's Lifetime Achievement Award and since he is obviously not finished achieving, we are proud to brand this award with his name forever more.