Anna Maria Sie was 10 years old when she first stepped foot in America, emigrating from Napoli, Italy, with her father and two older brothers. Eventually, she'd marry an electrical engineer and the two would land in Colorado, building an impressive portfolio of philanthropic work across the state under the Sie name.
"My mom's story was a love story between an immigrant from Italy and an immigrant from China," said Michelle Sie Whitten, daughter of Anna Sie and president, CEO and co-founder of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.
Anna Sie died surrounded by her family on September 20, 2023, at 78 years old.
Anna met her husband John Sie, a Chinese immigrant who spent his high school years in a Catholic orphanage on Staten Island, while working as a switchboard operator in New Jersey. They would be married for 56 years. The two raised five children and would go on to help build the nation's cable TV industry. In 1977, John joined Showtime Entertainment as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Then in 1983, at John Malone's NCTA Vanguard award reception, one of the highest honors in the cable television industry, John Sie received an invitation from Malone to move to Colorado.
"That day he told me, 'John, why don't you come to Denver and make some real money?'" John Sie said.
"Moving to Colorado," Michelle said, "that was a tough thing for her to do. To uproot and move to a place where we knew nobody. Again, a testament to my mom supporting my dad's entrepreneurial spirit."
John moved to help Malone build Tele-Communications Inc. and would later help establish the Starz and Encore networks. Considered by many as the father of digital television, and a member of the Colorado Business Hall of Fame, John said his accomplishments couldn't have happened without the support of Anna.
"In all the important things we did it together," John said. "We shared, analyzed, criticized, argued -- but we always came out together. That was the best part of all our endeavors. With her insight, perspective and guidance we forged ahead. Always."
With the success and wealth that they garnered over the years, the Sies would roll out years of philanthropic support across the state.
Over the years, John, the analytical-type, and Anna, the compassionate go-getter, would ponder many "what ifs?" until one came to fruition. Through the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation, institutions like the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Film Society, Children's Hospital Colorado, the University of Colorado, BioFrontiers Institute and the Denver School of Science and Technology all received support from the wealthy couple.
Anna's philanthropy was heavily informed by her experiences growing up an Italian immigrant. Her love for film led to an investment in Denver's Sie Film Center and an annual tradition of awarding the prestigious Italian Filmmaker Award at the Denver Film Festival.
"I think when she came to this country at the age of 10, not speaking any English, film was the common ground," John said, explaining Anna's love for film. "Everybody enjoyed American movies."
She also endowed the Anna Maglione-Sie Chair in Italian Language & Literature at the University of Denver and her love for music led to an endowment of the Dan & Boyce Sher Chair at the College of Music at the University of Colorado Boulder.
According to Michelle, the Sies have donated over $115 million since 2003, most of which stayed in Colorado.
But Anna's milestone achievement was the founding of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation that opened its doors in November 2010 at Children's Hospital Colorado.
"She always felt like she was made to feel less or unintelligent. And then when she had a biracial marriage, she felt ostracized by a lot of different communities. She felt all that," Michelle said. "When she had a granddaughter with down syndrome she wanted to protect her from feeling the way she felt. That's why it was so personal to her, not just her granddaughter, but she felt she could relate to this population."
The Foundation's primary focus is to support the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, which is an academic hub for research and medical care for people with Down syndrome. Earlier this year, the Foundation announced it has given over $1.1 million to Down syndrome member organizations in 46 states and six countries since 2011.
"She was the engine behind it, to improve the lives of people with disabilities," John said. "That is her major imprint in her life besides all of the various things she enjoyed doing."
Michelle said she thought she knew her mother well until her stage IV endometrial cancer diagnosis in December 2013. After that, Michelle remembers seeing her mother's fight to live another year.
Doctors originally told the Sie family Anna had two years at most. She went on to live almost 10 more years.
"It was so impactful for me," Michelle said. "She would always tell us, 'One more year. One more year.' I think that's a testament to her love for her family, life and her community."
"Positive, warm and loving to all," John said. "She's the great love of my life and I'm devastated by her passing. I'm forever grateful to have met and loved her."
Anna wrote a poem called "I'm Free." She asked that it be included in her funeral program. An excerpt shows the love with which Anna Sie lived her life, and the care she took when she carried out her work and touched those around her.
If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss
Oh yes these are things that I shall miss.
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savored much,
Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
A funeral service for Anna Maria Sie will take place Thursday, September 28 at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of Immaculate Conception.
