 Willma
Potter
She was Citizen
State Bank’s first female teller, and the county’s
first and only Hereford breeder and rancher. Willma, who passed away in
2007, was an exemplary descendent of Alaska’s intrepid explorer,
Jonathan Kennicott.
|
 Angie
Henn
From
the day she set foot in this town more than 20 years ago, Angie
has been a progressive visionary and a catalyst for community action.
As
President of the Women’s Club, she declared, “History is going to
live!”
then worked indefatigably to preserve it through the museum, as a
volunteer,
and through telling fantastic historical tales. |
 Nancy
Nixon
She came, she saw,
she stayed—it’s the story of many who fall in love
with Ouray. Nancy, a teacher at the Ouray School, heads up the KURA,
98.9, the only all-student-run community radio in the United States. |
 Gloria
Roberts
Peacekeeper,
explorer, writer, she is the
quintessential
Renaissance woman. Gloria, who has piloted a fishing
vessel and an 18-wheeler, went back for her degree at UC Berkeley when
she was 58 and did a stint in the Peace Corps in her sixties! |
 Kathleen
Norris Cook
An
internationally acclaimed photographer, Kathleen vividly
preserves
the enduring“Spirit of the San Juans” in a sublime photographic
journey
presented
in a beautiful book and a documentary film, both of the same
name. She also includes vignettes of the people who have long
called
the San Juans home. |
 Dee
Williams
She
arrived in 1975 and hasn’t slowed down since. Owner of Ouray Variety
Store (with husband, Glen), Dee helped start the ski program for kids
in
Telluride,
has three times served on the Ouray Chamber board, and is
involved in Culinary Arts, Nordic Council, Music in Ouray and WISE
(formerly
AAUW). |
 Peggy
Cox
Daughter
of a Cripple Creek gold miner, she married and came here in
1949 with a miner husband, then subsequently worked for the County
Clerk
and County Treasurer and “just about everywhere in Ouray.” She helped
start
the museum, because “So much precious history is going away!” |
 Barbara
Morss
From
florist to contractor, realtor to bar owner, Barb has done it
all since she arrived in Ouray 28 years ago. She has volunteered,
served
in two chambers (Ridgway and Ouray), and numerous boards (town,
historical,
library)... and been a successful businesswoman the entire
time. (While raising a family, as have most of these women.) |
 Verena
Jacobson
Born
and raised in Ouray, she taught school in a one-room schoolhouse
on Log Hill and later in old Piedmont. After farming for 40 years in
Minnesota
with her husband, Verena returned and remained
active
in the Historical Society, Presbyterian Church and Women’s
Club until her death in 2007.
|
 Barbara
Spencer
Born
in Rico, raised in Ouray, she is undoubtedly the doyenne of Ouray.
Her family owned the local newspaper, and she still writes a weekly
column.
She skied home from Camp Bird, where she taught school. She’s been
involved
in every aspect of the community and always has a twinkle in her eye
and
a great story to share. |
 The
Bonatti Women: Addie, Chris and Talia
The
family has been involved in mining and local business for
four generations, since Grandpa Joe arrived in Colorado in 1894. Today,
Addie and her husband, Rudy, have the Ore Car Gift shop (for many years
a pool hall run by Addie’s mother-in-law, Christina). Chris, born and
raised
in Ouray, runs the Outlaw Restaurant, long a main-stay of Ouray dining.
Talia is heir-apparent. The Bonatti women have been, and continue to
be,
active in the community.
Story, © Kathryn Retzler
Photos, © Scott Fraser
|
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