Born in 1937 in California, Pat was proud of her family’s connections to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Her mother Eleanor (Peg) was the daughter of Ethel and Joe Mills, who built and ran the Crags Hotel in Estes Park. Her father Dorr was one of Rocky Mountain National Park’s first rangers. Both instilled in her a life-long love of nature that she passed on to her children and thousands of visitors to RMNP, where she served as an enthusiastic part-time docent at the Rocky Mountain Conservancy into her late 70s. She served on the board of the Estes Park Historical Museum, and was awarded their Pioneer Award in 2018 for her passionate efforts to keep Estes Park history alive.
Christian faith was interwoven in her life. She studied at Reed College and Colorado College, and received her MA in Religion from Iliff School of Theology. She was the Director of Religious Education at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Denver in the 1970s and twenty years later at Denver’s First Unitarian Church. In 1976, she co-founded the Shalom Community, a residential support community in Denver which continues to this day as the Karis Community. In her later years, she served as a Lay Pastoral Associate at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Estes Park, and a Chaplain at Good Samaritan Retirement Village in Estes Park.
Pat was most proud of her work as a peace educator and activist. She worked for the National Peace Academy Campaign in Washington DC. She developed and taught a conflict resolution and peace studies program at Earlham School of Religion, and helped design and teach in Iliff School of Theology’s Peace and Justice Studies program. She developed peace, conflict resolution and social justice materials for the Episcopal Church and American Friends Service Committee, and traveled the world to work with other peace-makers.
But her work for peace was not just theoretical. In 1990 she wrote the Department of Treasury to inform them that she would no longer be paying taxes as a form of protest to the size of the military budget. A formal peace tax resister, she testified before Congress in support of a Peace Tax Fund that would allow citizens to designate their taxes to non-military purposes. As a result, the IRS seized her car and attempted to garnish her wages. For the rest of her career, she worked part-time hours to attempt to keep her salary below a taxable level. She was supported by her employers and friends, who helped her find creative ways to continue to live in Estes Park, where she had a wide social circle. With their assistance, she was able to live in and serve her beloved mountain town until the penultimate year of her life.
She loved music and singing, and performed in choirs and as a soloist. She could be heard singing or humming wherever she was.
Married three times (Arthur Washburn, Thomas Washburn, Bryan Michener), she is survived by her sister Sally, her sons Christopher and Peter, daughters Polly and Coretta; grandchildren John Paul, Sarah, Joshua, and Maia; and three great-grandchild, Mackenzie, Eleanor Joanne and Joseph. She also doted on her dogs.
A memorial service for Pat will be held at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Estes Park on October 22, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Rocky Mountain Conservancy. To leave a message for the family www.allnuttestespark.com
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