Pioneer Information
Born in Ureterp, The Netherlands, Saco Reink DeBoer began his career as Denver’s landscape architect, where he collaborated with George Kessler and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. on the citywide park and parkway system. He rapidly became recognized for his use of indigenous plant material, sensitivity to the natural landscape, and sustainable practices such as water conservation. In a career spanning seven decades, DeBoer worked on institutional projects, estate gardens, designs for suburbs and subdivisions, parks, parkways, and regional studies and plans for urban development, zoning, and transportation. He was a crusader for beauty and quality of life in the urban experience. DeBoer’s commission to plan Boulder City, Nevada, the first federally sponsored model city, typified the breadth of his professional expertise.
