COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO A retired elementary school teacher with a love for open spaces has donated the family’s 1,500 acre Montana ranch to benefit the Heller Ranch Center for Arts and Humanities at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Elizabeth O. “Betty” Taylor died March 6, a few days before her 86th birthday. Before her death, she bequeathed her family’s ranch near Columbia Falls, Mont., to the CU Foundation with the understanding that the land would be sold and 80 percent of the proceeds used to renovate the Heller property on the UCCS campus. The land has an appraised value of $645,000 and is currently on the market.
“Mrs. Taylor lived in Colorado Springs for more than 25 years,” Bart Rice, a longtime friend and attorney, said following Taylor’s April 2 memorial service. “But she never forgot her beloved Montana and her love for open spaces.”
Born and raised in Columbia Falls, Betty Taylor spent her summers in Glacier National Park. During WWII, she worked at Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles. Following the war, she moved to Colorado Springs where she earned a degree in education from Colorado College. She later taught at Franklin, Jefferson and Audubon schools. She and her husband, Frank Taylor, had one son, Paul. Both men are deceased.
To commemorate the history of the family ranch and her son, Mrs. Taylor designed a plaque that will bear the family’s cattle brand “T-Lazy-A” and the name of Paul Francis Taylor. The plaque will be prominently displayed on the Heller Ranch property located on the far western edge of the UCCS campus.
The Heller Ranch Center for Arts and Humanities is the vision of the late Dorothy Heller. Mrs. Heller donated the home and land where she and her husband, artist Larry Heller, lived for more than 60 years. The 1930s era home and land were donated with the provision that they be preserved for use by local artists. The home needs substantial repair. The Taylor gift will be used to restore the main structure and to construct a courtyard and veranda that open to a vista west of the property. Future plans include galleries, studio spaces, a sculpture garden, and meeting rooms. For more about the Heller Center, visit http://web.uccs.edu/projects/heller.htm.
“We are greatly appreciative of Mrs. Taylor’s generosity and vision for what the Heller Ranch will be,” Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “It is an honor to have met Mrs. Taylor and to be charged with ensuring that the family’s ranching roots and her son are appropriately remembered.”
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 25 bachelor’s degrees, 17 master’s and two doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,800 students annually.
Editor’s note: A photograph of Mrs. Taylor is available by contacting University Relations, 262-3439