National Water Center, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
National Water Center, Eureka Springs, AR
Updated: April 2014 Contact: Contact: NWC
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In Memoriam
Miriam Ella Alford
1932 - 2005
And, when great souls die,
after a period, peace blooms . . .
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be.
For they existed.
- - Maya Angelou
Miriam Ella Alford died at home in Fayetteville on December 3 at the age of 73 being loved and surrounded by her family. Ella's passing leaves a great legacy of open-hearted alliance with so many good and abiding things that no one can even calculate or measure them; the list of things beneficial to the Earth and the life (including us) upon it that would not be here had Miriam Ella not helped to engender and support them goes on and on...
I, for one, of a great many carry a great heartache that she is no longer with us, and I miss her being with us here on Earth. Not just people has she cared for, and befriended, and who will be living and breathing their thanks to her for many generations into the future. Consider for one instance the great Alford Forest and all the life within it that she gave for us to take care for in her family name. Tribute by David Haenke, Director, Alford Forest, Inc., Brixey, MO
The Alford 4400 acre forest in northern Ozark County, MO, named after the Alford Family and Ella, who donated 3200 acres of it to the Ozark Regional Land Trust, and put the rest of it in Conservation Easements for permanent protection with ORLT.
Miriam Ella Alford was the first major benefactor to AEEA back in 1996 when we were in our infancy. It was a gift that will always be remembered. This gift gave us the confidence to continue. She was a great supporter of environmental education and conservation. We appreciate her generosity and compassion for our natural environment. Robert McAfee, Executive Director (Volunteer), AEEA - Arkansas Environmental Education Association, http://aeea.us/
Miriam was also the major contributor and supporter of the National Water Center. Without her sensitivity, insight and generosity, it could never have existed. We miss her so much. Barbara Harmony, Coordinator