Patsy Proctor – Madera Canyon Visionary

 

Alice (Patsy) Carter Proctor passed away on August 14, 2004 in Green Valley. Born and raised on the East Coast, Patsy did not come to Green Valley until 1985. With a wealth of experience in organizing volunteers to accomplish education and preservation programs, she set to work on her favorite natural area in her new home – Madera Canyon. Fortunate for us, she joined the Friends of Madera Canyon and shortly became President of the Board of Directors.

She was a skilled leader and inspired volunteers to join with her in working to learn more about this wonderful canyon so close to Green Valley and to share this knowledge with others. Her many years of service resulted in significant and long-lasting accomplishments to the benefit of the canyon and its many visitors. She began the docent program that provides many Santa Cruz Valley school children with a unique educational experience in the canyon where they learn about its natural history and reasons why this marvelous place must be protected and preserved. She led the renovation of the current Kent Springs Center that is used for meetings, receptions, and educational programs. She encouraged and assisted Doug Moore in writing the “Web of Life” in 1996, the manual used by teachers to prepare classes for their trips to Madera Canyon .

Patsy Proctor also worked to help Doug write The Nature of Madera Canyon, published by the Friends of Madera Canyon in 1999. This book is a complete and comprehensive summary of the geology and natural history of the canyon. The naming of Proctor Road, the Proctor Loop of the Accessibility Trail system, and especially the Patsy Proctor Educational Ramada adjacent to the Proctor parking area attests to the respect and admiration that those associated with Madera Canyon had for Patsy. Those who worked with her are honored to have known her - and the rest of us are forever in her debt for the legacy she has left for the Madera Canyon family.

(Written by George West)

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