Obituary of Dean Berenbaum

On December 24, 2025, Dean Berenbaum – a loving father, son, brother, uncle, and husband – passed away from cancer.

Dean was born March 31, 1960 in Denver, CO where he lived most of his life. The son of Harriet and Zelie Berenbaum and older brother to Lisa Stewart, he grew up in Hilltop within blocks of other Berenbaum cousins, aunts, and uncles. The decades between his childhood and his recent return to that Hilltop home were filled with explorations, adventures, family, and service.

As a child, he enjoyed discovering the world on his family’s many trips, especially the chance to explore the outdoors, whether riding horses at dude ranches or finding lizards in the Arizona desert. He brought that love of nature and science back home, raising birds in a self-crafted aviary in his backyard and volunteering at the Denver Museum of Natural History as a child.

Following graduation from Colorado Academy, he studied biology at Menlo College and graduated from University of Colorado with a BA in Environmental Conservation in 1984. Degree in hand, he began a year of travels – starting with Japan and making his way to Australia, where he drove an old VW Bug across the Outback just to “have a look around.”

During his 20s, he explored not only the world but also varied careers until he joined his father’s business, National Real Estate. In 1997, he and Beth Steinhorn married and were thrilled as their family grew with the births of Molly (2000) and Talia (2002) with whom Dean shared his loves of the outdoors, reading, music, carpentry, Lego engineering, and esoteric humor. He embodied the role of fun and silly dad, while also taking his role as a father very seriously. He raised his daughters with love and care, always modeling good character, gentleness, and good humor. He had an eye out always for safety and preparedness, whether that be emergencies or merely a backup ‘emergency hot sauce’ in the trunk.

By 2008, he had left real estate to pursue a career that better matched his own call to serve, finding that in emergency management. Volunteering with Rampart Search and Rescue and interning with Adams County Office of Emergency Management solidified this path and his family was and still is immensely proud of his ability to reinvent himself at the age of 50. For the next 15 years, he was a dedicated member of the emergency management community – whether chasing hurricanes to rescue animals during his years with American Humane Association, leading emergency management for the City of Evans, or joining the team as Emergency Management Coordinator for Adams County where he spent his last six years.

Dean is remembered as one who loved his family, his work, his dogs, his country, Jewish traditions, and the outdoors – and a man who was always prepared, never without a backpack containing a first aid kit, snack, and other essentials just in case, and wearing his signature “pockety pants.”

He is survived by daughters Molly Berenbaum and Talia Berenbaum; sister Lisa Stewart; nephews and nieces, Jack Stewart, Alec (Julia Farney) Steinhorn, William Steinhorn, and Charlotte Steinhorn; and former wife Beth Steinhorn.

A Graveside Service was held on Sunday, 12/28, 11:00 am, at Emanuel Cemetery.

Memorial contributions encouraged in Dean’s memory, to Rampart Search and Rescue, 437 West 116th Place, Northglenn, Colorado 80234; or to AFMDA Magen David Adom, 20 W. 36th Street, Suite 1100, New York, NY 10018.