Gerald A. "Gerry" Rauenhorst, whose Opus development company built many of the Twin Cities' most prominent landmarks, died Thursday night.
Regarded as a visionary commercial real estate developer, Rauenhorst's legacy includes the halo-topped Capella Tower in downtown Minneapolis and the Mariucci Arena at the University of Minnesota. Tackling projects coast to coast, he built a fortune that he and his family drew on to fund an extensive record in philanthropy.
Rauenhorst had struggled with a number of illnesses and died at his home in Edina with family members at his side. He was 86.
Rauenhorst maintained deep connections with his alma mater, the University of St. Thomas, which on Thursday said it regards Rauenhorst as "one of the most influential trustees and generous benefactors" in its history. His many awards over the years include two from the Vatican.
Born on a farm near Olivia, Minn., in 1927, Rauenhorst was one of eight children. His parents were tenant farmers who moved frequently when he was a small child. Rauenhorst once told a reporter he could remember walking with a horse-drawn wagon that held all of his family's possessions.
Rauenhorst worked his way through the College of St. Thomas, as it was known then, where he met his wife, Henrietta "Hanky" Schmoll, then a student at the nearby College of St. Catherine. He went on to get a civil engineering degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
In 1953 he founded Rauenhorst Construction Co., which would evolve into Minnetonka-based Opus. At the start, the company's headquarters were in the breezeway of the family's Richfield house, and Hanky kept the books.
During the 1950s and 1960s Rauenhorst helped pioneer the design-build model of construction, one that relies on keeping a range of skills in-house, from architecture to engineering and construction, to better control the process and cost.
