Rose Hamman Obituary

At nearly 103, lifelong learner Rose Elnor Hamman died a natural death June 29, 2017. Her caring heart, intelligent mind, and sharp wit will be missed by family and friends alike. What a strong example she was to us all!

Born in Canon City Sept. 21, 1914, Rose Elnor graduated from Alamosa High School in 1932. She told stories about living through the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and two major floods.

She earned a BA from the University of Denver (with academic honors) in 1939, was co-winner of the Campbell Cup Award and president of the Women's Athletic Club. After college, Rose Elnor taught four years at Bear Creek High School. She worked one year at Fort Collins before enlisting in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) where she was assigned to take women recruits thru six weeks of Navy Boot Camp at Hunter College, New York. "I joined the navy to see the sea, and what did I see? I saw the sidewalks of New York."

Honorably discharged, she 'adopted' a needy family from Holland who was devastated in the war and sent letters and care packages to them for many years. The father was an artist and his work still hung in her apartment at Good Samaritan. Throughout her life, she donated monthly to food banks and clothing drives.

1946-57, Rose Elnor taught English and Physical Education at Moffat County High School in Craig, Colorado, making lifelong friends. While there she earned a MA in Education in August 1950 from the University of Colorado in Boulder, writing her papers while sitting up on a rock at her summer cabin outside of Lyons. Rose Elnor was a pioneer member of the original committee that worked for a state-supported retirement system for all teachers, kindergarten through university, in the state of Colorado (PERA). She loved to tell how she was escorted out of the senate because she had a few more sentences she wanted to say AFTER her time was up. She helped establish the Colorado Education Association and was active on the local and national levels.

Rose Elnor had taught two years at Fort Morgan when the opportunity came to help establish a guidance office at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs. June 1962 she got a High School Counseling Certificate from the University of Denver. She touched many students' lives with her sound advice and her work to assist them in meeting their graduation requirements.

Her official retirement came in 1982, but she remained as a volunteer tutor until she was 90 years old. Many Broadmoor figure skaters, including National and World champions (as well as performers in the Shipstead and Johnson Ice Follies) owe their high school diplomas to the work they did with Miss Hamman. Her dedication took her to National and World Finals within the United States, Canada and communist Hungary.

1968- 1978 Rose Elnor was also the local director of the People to People program, helping organize the international program in the Springs and taking 4 trips herself as a sponsor of the students.

She became an active member of P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) as a young adult and during the course of her life she promoted women's education. She was State Coordinator of the P.E.O. Chapter House in Colorado Springs and recently was honored for her over 75 years of P.E.O. service.

A member of First United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs, even in her 90's she served as a greeter and could be seen climbing the stairs to the balcony to sit for Sunday services or community concerts.

In her 'retirement', she organized local WAVE reunions and attended national ones. She would go to class reunions for Alamosa, Bear Creek, and Moffat County, the latest in 2013. She travelled throughout the United States and Europe, touching in with former students and visiting family coast to coast for graduations and weddings. She kept up correspondence with family, friends and students and received hundreds of Christmas letters each year.

In 2012 Rose Elnor received special recognition on the Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 Hall of Fame for her exceptional contributions.

In her late 90's, she moved to Fort Collins Good Samaritan Village to be closer to family and was active on the residents' board and in the reading club. She was always seen holding out her hand in greeting, passing out candy at Halloween or Easter, and attending concerts.

She kept her mind active by reading and watching the news so she could keep up with politics and vote in every election. Before going to sleep she reviewed the states and their capitals (in alphabetical order) or recited poems/short speeches that she had memorized over the years. On special occasions (like her mother before her) she would compose her own poems to memorialize the events.

Family was important to her and she touched the hearts of her twelve nieces and nephews: Larry (Norma) Miller, Ken Miller, Sharon (Terry Bowers) Hamman, Jean (Rowan) Tichenor, Steve (Carol) Knaus, Jan (Darry) Gablehouse, Jane Ann Hamman, Tim (Johnette) Knaus, Deb (James) Scates, Chris Knaus, Greg (Anne) Knaus, Ted Knaus, their children and grandchildren. Over the years she corresponded with them all and cherished holiday gatherings. She was preceded in death by her three younger siblings and one nephew, Chris Knaus.

Celebration of Life services will be held at Fort Collins Good Samaritan Village, 508 W. Trilby, Sunday, July 16th at 1:00 p.m. and at the Colorado Springs First United Methodist Church, 420 N. Nevada, Saturday, June 22 at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to (1) P.E.O. Colorado State Chapter (with a notation: Colorado State Scholarship fund) and sent to P.E.O. Treasurer Shari Fox, P. O. Box 68, Fowler, CO 81039-9714 or to (2) Food Bank for Larimer County, 1301 Blue Spruce Dr., Fort Collins, CO 80524.