Remembering Rob Rabe
Rob Rabe was one of the first people I met at Adeo, then called Greeley Center for Independence (GCI). I was hired as the Executive Director in October 2013, and he was in charge of three of the five programs that GCI offered at the time: a day program for people with disabilities; a residential program for adults with brain injuries; and an outpatient clinic that offered physical and occupational therapy, including aquatic therapy in a heated pool.
The man was impressive from the start, sitting tall and broad-shouldered in his wheelchair with a slow smile and a quick wit. He wasted no time telling me he was not planning to stay to navigate my tenure. “I’ll give you three months,” he said, “and then I think I’ll retire.”
“Give me six,” I countered, and he agreed. He stayed for a decade.
Born in Des Moines and raised in Indianola, Iowa, Rob had just graduated high school when he was hit by a drunk driver while a passenger in another car. He spent seventeen months at Des Moines Hospital, where they told him he had sustained a brain injury. He also had to have his right leg amputated, which he said was particularly hard because his right ankle was the only part of him that was not injured in the accident. He then went to Craig Hospital in Denver for further rehabilitation.
Knowing it was important to have access to his doctors and therapists at Craig after leaving the hospital, Rob remained in Denver for his bachelor’s degree and then moved to Greeley to pursue a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). Upon graduation, he went to work at a rehab hospital in Colorado Springs where he met his wife, Jeanne. Rob was able to build trust quickly with his patients because he knew what it was like to have life upended by an accident. He was a model of hope and inspiration for those who wondered what life would be once they left the hospital.
In 1997, GCI’s founder Hope Cassidy asked Rob to return to Greeley to help her run GCI. She had met him when he was a graduate student at UNC, and she now wanted him to oversee a small residential program as well as the newly minted outpatient clinic. Rob agreed, and while Jeanne worked at North Colorado Medical Center, Rob settled in at GCI. The clinic grew and flourished under his leadership as did residential services. In 2002, GCI applied to be one of four pilot programs in Colorado to offer long-term residential services for adult survivors of brain injury. Rob worked tirelessly on all the programmatic aspects of this new venture, including writing policies and procedures; hiring, training, and supervising the first Director of Brain Injury Services; and overseeing the admission of eighteen people with brain injuries when the building opened on April 14, 2004.
Not one to allow the limitations of his body to dictate what he could achieve, Rob pushed himself so hard that within a year of Stephens Farm opening, he had to take three months of medical leave. But that didn’t stop him. Rob soon returned to GCI to continue to help lead the organization and provide one-on-one counseling to many of the people it served.
Rob worked at GCI and Adeo for a total of twenty-seven years. I asked him to serve on my executive team because I knew his lived experience and grasp of institutional history would be invaluable in helping us make good decisions going forward. Rob and I had regular weekly meetings and countless impromptu conversations during our years together. We worked with many others to ensure the organization he loved so much would thrive well into the future. I am so grateful he chose to stay, listen to my ideas, and help shape the decade of changes that brought Adeo to where it is today—a place people can truly call home when their lives are turned inside out by an acquired brain injury.
I am honored to have known Rob in the last decade of his life. I witnessed the grit and determination he brought to his life every single day as he fought against the inevitable physical decline that came from years of pushing his body beyond its limits. The last couple of years were filled with pain. He was in and out of doctors’ offices and hospitals. He relied, as he always had, on his deep faith in God and the loving partnership of his beloved Jeanne to get him through.
Rob passed away on January 8, 2025. Rest now, my friend. Rest knowing that your legacy lives on in all of us who were touched by your grace, humor, and wisdom.
Journey of Support
Adeo’s journey began in 1977 with Hope Cassidy founding the Greeley Center for Independence (GCI), a volunteer-led organization dedicated to providing support and opportunities for adults living with disabilities. Over the decades, GCI became a beacon of hope, advocating for accessible support and creating one of Colorado’s first Supportive Living Programs for survivors of brain injury. In 2020, we embraced the name Adeo, inspired by the Latin phrase meaning “to this point,” or “so far,” symbolizing progress and resilience.
This legacy is intertwined with the remarkable contributions of leaders like Rob Rabe. Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we honor Rob’s memory by continuing to build a supportive, strong community that uplifts those impacted by brain injury.