CALLAHAN, Patricia (Pat)

age: 80 yrs 4 mos 1 day Patricia entered this world on September 22, 1931 in Kansas and left this world on January 23, 2012. She was the oldest child of Zenus (Bob) and Esther Robinson. During her time on earth she accomplished many things. She completed a bachelor's degree in Home Economics and Agriculture from the U of A. There she met her future husband, Robert Callahan a local Yuma boy and married him after they return to Yuma. They had 3 talented children. Patricia was a skilled homemaker, seamstress, gardener, chief, care giver of stray animals and community developer. Pat was initiated into P.E.O. Chapter AG in 1959 and spent many years working fundraisers and attending conventions all in the effort to increase dollars to support the projects that P.E.O. promotes to provide continued education for women. In 1981, she spearheaded the organization of a new P.E.O., Chapter in Yuma, which was Chapter CJ. She was an active member of that chapter and held many offices until she was unable to attend meetings. After beautifying the City of Yuma for a number of years her interest turned towards the history of Yuma. She became very active with the Yuma Fine Arts Association and the Yuma Historical Society. There she found her purpose in Yuma. She created flower arrangements of native flowers and plants for meetings and art shows. She created community activities that reenacted events such as the crossing of the Colorado River by the Spanish colonists while on their way to San Francisco. She enjoyed dressing up in historical dress and lead "walking tours" through downtown Yuma to educate people about Yuma's history. During the time she was President of the Historical Society Board in 1976, she was contacted by State Senator Jones Osborn to discuss an agenda focused on the Yuma Crossing National Historic Landmark. In January of 1977, the Major of Yuma, Ersel Byrd, appointed the Colorado River Greenbelt Committee members and Pat was the Chairperson. The Greenbelt Committee members wrote a report calling for development to enhance historical, cultural, natural and recreational qualities of the site. A city task force in 1979 named the project The Yuma Crossing Park. To help citizens appreciate the significance of the National Historic Landmark and to envision a public park on the site, Pat and Gwen Robinson, her sister-in-law, spent several weeks attending community meetings and events, morning, noon and night to tell Yuma's story. While the voters of Yuma did not approve the funding for the park in a bond election in 1980, the interest in the idea generated community support. The Yuma Crossing Park Council was formed in 1980 and Pat was a member of the first board. That park today is now known as the Wetlands Park. During her years of service to the Yuma Historical Society, she took it upon herself to relocate the Lowers Lights Mission which was located next door to the present Arizona Historical Society- the Sanguinetti Home. Pat located some land that was available and basically single handedly raised a half a million dollars to relocate the mission to its present location with a larger facility, which is now known as The Crossroads Mission. Her efforts in leadership in historic preservation activities in Yuma and statewide, including her work as project director for the nomination of the Yuma Multiple Resource Area to the National Register of Historic Places was recognized by her receiving the first annual Governor's Award for Historical Preservation. She was also interested in preserving the area around the Historical Society for there were many old homes and structures in that area. So for 7 years, Pat assigned herself to complete the necessary survey of all the buildings and structures in that area in order to be qualified as a historic area and it is referred to as the Brinkley Avenue Register. Pat's next project became Betty's Kitchen with the BLM. Since Betty's Kitchen was an interesting part of Yuma's history she felt that area of river needed to be spruced up a bit. She worked with the BLM to create walking paths in and about Betty's Kitchen so that tours could be given to group of interested people, from school groups to winter visitors. She also created a handbook that described those plants and animals that were in and around the Betty's Kitchen area. In 1994, she was named Citizen of the Year for her outstanding contributions in preserving the history of Yuma, relocating the Lower Light Mission, securing the Molina Block for the Arizona Historical Society, her participation in the Assistance League which did fund raising for the Historical Society museum and for her participation as a founder of the Betty's Kitchen Protection Association, an organization dedicated to preserving plant life near Laguna Dam as a wildlife habitat. She assisted the creation and publication of the book: A Wooden Road Through The Hollow of God's Hand" by Johnny Rube. The book is about the plank road through the sand dunes west of Yuma and is available for purchase at the Annex bookstore. Pat is survived by two of her child, Cathy Callahan Reeves of Somerton and Jon Patrick Callahan of Chandler and younger brother, Richard Robinson of Bisbee. There will be a "Tea Party" on Sunday, March 4th. Published in The Yuma Sun on February 26, 2012