Person:Patsy Meehan (1)

D. Nathan Meehan lists her birth as 7 March 1935.

Obituary from the Gilpin County newspaper, January 1991.

                HEART ATTACK CLAIMS THE LIFE OF PATSY ELLIS

Patsy Meehan Ellis died Jan. 17 when the car she was driving went into Clear Creek along Highway 6. She was on her way back to Central City after a trip to Denver when she suffered a massive hemorrhage of the aorta just outside Tunnel No. 1. The accident occurred arount 3 p.m.

Born March 7, 1935, in Berlin OK, she was the daughter of Nathan and Hazel Ruth (Harrington) Meehan. She attended school in Elk City OK, and was a graduate of Oklahoma City University.

After 20 years in the oil industry, Ellis became a real estate broker, and at the time of her death was a broker associate with Heritage West Realty in Central City.

A past president of the Desk and Derrick Association, a prestigious oil organization, she also belonged to the 100 Club, Petroleum Club and the Executive Women's Committee.

She was past chairman of the Children's Hospital Diabetes Foundation, and was active in the Republican party, both in Denver and in Central City. She was a committeewoman for the Gilpin County Republican Central Committee, and was involved for many years in county and state politics.

During the years she lived in Gilpin County, Ellis was civic-minded, serving on numerous committees and organizations. At the time of her death, she served on the Gilpin County Historical Society board and was recording secretary for the Gilpin County Chamber of Commerce. She was a former member of the Gilpin County Arts Association, and briefly served on the Gilpin County Library Board. She was until recently secretary of the Central City Sister Cities Committee, and helped organize the Central City Opera House Association fashion show. She was involved in completing the 1990 census count in Gilpin County.

Interested in history, Ellis enjoyed researching historical archives. She also loved animals and had several pets.

Each spring she would give packets of sweet pea seeds to people throughout the community with instructions to plant them on St. Patrick's Day. She often gave small gifts to friends - just because.

She is survived by her brother, Donald Meehan, of Valdosta GA, three nephews and a niece.

Memorial services were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Central City on Wednesday, Jan. 23. She was cremated and will be interred in Oklahoma.

Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.

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There is a sad, but very coincidental story associated with Patsy's death: In late December, 1992, I was scanning through the Prodigy genealogy bulletin board for messages of interest. I was astounded to see a message entitled CAPPS Photograph. It was from a lady in Connecticut who had found a photograph in an antique shop that showed the Judiah Clark Hussey family and listed the birth an death dates of each family member. The lady indicated the first to reply to the message could have the photograph. I instantly composed a reply and told her I wanted the photograph. Here is a copy of my message back to her that best explains my suprise:

"In 1980 my father was killed in an automobile accident and, as many times is the case, my mother felt that much family history was lost. She put together a nice collection of pictures, stories, and documents about the family and distributed it to family members, including my cousin Patsy nee MEEHAN who lived in Denver. Just about a year ago Patsy was also killed in an automobile accident in Colorado. Her brother flew up from Georgia to handle her estate. Since Patsy died intestate and had no descendants or family in Denver, he donated a majority of her personal effects to a charitable organization. Somehow or another, that photograph made its way to the place where you found it last month. The writing on the back of photograph is that of my mother's.

I don't know if you recall, but on the left back margin in pencil "Patsy" is annotated! The real irony of it is that in 1980 I xeroxed about twenty copies of the history package for my mother so she could send it as many of our relatives as possible. I only have a xeroxed copy of the picture. Patsy had contributed several photographs to the package - apparently my mother had responded by providing Patsy an acutal copy of the photograph. Now, because of this long trail of circumstance and your generosity, I have a real copy of it." It turned out that the lady had been in Denver during Christmas and had found the photograph in an antique shop. She realized it had genealogical significance to someone. When she returned to Connecticut she immediately posted an inquiry on the Prodigy system.