Patricia Pfeiffer Obituary

Seldom has the world seen a more perfect blend of mother, historian, author, and political activist. Patricia Ann Pfeiffer of Colorado Springs passed away on March 3, 2010. Services will be held at Shove Chapel on the campus of Colorado College on Saturday, March 20, at 10 a.m., 902 North Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO. Mom grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri, and after a brief stint at the University of California at Berkeley, she arrived in the Springs to attend Colorado College in 1948. She spent the next 50 years making the city and the state a better, richer, more humane place to live. She was an early supporter of the ERA and Planned Parenthood, was an active member of the Junior League and served on the board of the Colorado Springs Day Nursery and the Pikes Peak Mental Health Center. In 1995, she campaigned hard against Amendment Two, the anti-gay initiative, and used her considerable writing and editing skills to help produce and distribute the newsletter for PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. She regularly marched in the Colorado Springs Gay Pride Parade and often counseled gays and lesbians on the difficult path to coming out. Her first and strongest love was writing. She published numerous articles on travel and history in both regional and national publications and chronicled her great awakening in 65 years of journal writing. In the latter half of her life, she focused her attention on the history of skiing and wrote a seminal book on the subject (White Gold). She was featured in the PBS documentary, Ski! A Century of Colorado Skiing. For over 20 years, she was a tireless worker for the Colorado Ski Museum serving on the Board of Directors, on the Advisory Board, and recently as Historian. Her latest endeavors were helping to create a Resource Center in Denver and spearheading the process of gaining accreditation for the museum. She was married to Bill Pfeiffer for 55 years and had four children who survive: Jan Hiland of Gypsum Colorado; Robert Pfeiffer of Parker; Kristi Pfeiffer Peck of Colorado Springs; and Eric Pfeiffer of San Francisco. In addition, ten grandchildren brought great joy to Mom during her later life. Patricia Ann Pfeiffer accomplished all of this and more, and throughout her life journey, she never lost her sense of humor. Here's to you, Mom: Drink to the snow that's coming down Drink to the revelry in town Drink to the mountain steep and high Drink to the skier schussing by Drink to friends that have gone before Drink to the friends we are with once more Drink to the skiers that will come here after Drink to a life of love and laughter --Pat Pfeiffer 1982 In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions to the Colorado Ski Museum, P.O. Box 1976 Vail, CO 81658, or the Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation, 825 East Pikes Peak Avenue, Suite 600, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3624.