Ethel Marie Rice passed away peacefully at her home in Gunnison on Jan. 19, 2025. Ethel was born in Crested Butte on March 15, 1940, the only child of Oliver and Ruth Rice. Ethel proudly called herself a “coal miner’s daughter” and the family followed mining opportunities in western Colorado. She spent most of her childhood in the North Fork Valley living in both Hotchkiss and Paonia. Ethel graduated from Paonia High School in 1958.
Immediately after high school Ethel accepted an appointment to clerical position working for the FBI within the Department of Justice and moved to the Washington, D.C. area. After a year back east, she knew her heart was in Colorado and she returned home. Ethel was the first person in her family to attend college. She enrolled at Western State College (now Western Colorado University) which started her lifelong love affair with the Gunnison Valley. Ethel graduated in 1963, earning an art degree. She then attended the University of Washington and received a master’s degree in library science in 1965.
Ethel returned to Gunnison in 1965 where she began her 36-year career at Western working at the Leslie J. Savage Library from 1965-2001, as the technical services and special collections librarian. In addition to her library duties, Ethel was an active member of the faculty senate for 14 years including serving as vice-chair. She also contributed for 19 years to the Campus Foundation Committee and served on the Foundation board of directors for five years.
In her personal time, and later in her retirement, Ethel continued to embrace her love of art and her love of exploring the Gunnison Country. For many years she could be found driving her prized International Scout over mountain passes and backcountry routes and in later years enjoying long drives over Black Mesa and Kebler Pass to visit friends over in North Fork. She continued to collect art with a focus on paintings by local and regional artists, many pieces created by Western students and faculty. Additionally, she was proud of her work in supporting the development of Western’s art curation and gallery management program efforts.
Reflecting on her personal experience as a first-generation college student, she established three student scholarships to give others the opportunities she valued during her own time at Western. A lover of art, Ethel made a gift commitment of $1 million in 2000 to establish an endowed chair in art, and her work in philanthropy was recognized in the congressional record.
In addition to these gifts and her annual giving through the decades, she has designated a portion of her estate proceeds to benefit Leslie J. Savage Library and to support local valley students attending Western through the Gunnison Valley Promise.
In her passing, Ethel leaves behind a patchwork of wonderful friends and rich relationships across Gunnison County and the North Fork Valley in Delta County. Her neighbors were her family, and she was always a fun and engaging friend at dinners, holiday celebrations and just chatting away an afternoon on the front porch. Iris and Porter Houck and Erin and Cael Medina, the neighboring kids on either side of Ethel, grew up with the blessing of having what amounted to a bonus grandmother, as she grew close to them and celebrated their accomplishments and growth over the years. Ethel also made deep and meaningful relationships with families as a hospice volunteer. She was well known for walking all over town, often with her beloved dog Daisy, her constant companion and sidekick.
Although she might have been best known for her generous philanthropic contributions, those who were lucky enough to know Ethel closely were privileged to know the heart of someone who deeply cared for her friends, her community and Western. In one of her last conversations with a neighbor she expressed gratitude for a life spent on the Western Slope, finding a true calling and career at Western and the satisfaction of knowing her quiet actions and efforts made Gunnison and Western better places.
A celebration of life for Ethel will be held on March 25 from 4-6 p.m. in the West Wing of the Leslie J. Savage Library on the campus of Western Colorado University. Ethel will be laid to rest in the Hotchkiss Cemetery alongside her parents later this spring.
