Patricia Ann (Patsy) Batchelder of Old Snowmass, Colorado, passed away peacefully on February 9, 2019, after a tw0-year bout with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), courageously making the best of every day. Patsy was born to William Batchelder and Jeanette Curry Batchelder on March 9, 1954, in San Francisco (Pacifica), California. In 1959, the family moved from Pacifica to Woodside where she competed in swimming and gymnastics and graduated from Woodside High School in 1972. Thereafter, she attended UC Santa Barbara and graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 1976 with a degree in psychology. Summers were spent in Yosemite Valley hiking, climbing and working.
Upon graduation from college, Patsy spent seven months traveling in Europe and Israel before moving to Ketchum, Idaho, in 1977. In Ketchum, she worked for Sun Valley Magazine and Names & Numbers phone directory. She was also a very active volunteer in numerous conservation and environmental causes, including the Snake River Alliance and Idaho Conservation League. In 1993, she met her husband, Andy Wiessner, and moved to Denver, and then Vail and Snowmass, Colorado, where she worked in advertising sales and for the non-profit Sopris Foundation.
During her Colorado years, she served on the nonprofit Boards of Aspen Tree and the Sonoran Institute and did extensive volunteer work for the Aspen Valley Land Trust, Eagle County Citizens for Open Space, Eagle and Pitkin County Democrats, High Country News, and was also an advocate for Response. She was an avid outdoor enthusiast who particularly enjoyed backpacking, trail running, river trips, the ocean, swimming, and skiing. Patsy will be remembered by many for her warmth, radiant smile, boundless energy and enthusiasm, and for hosting events to raise funds to protect the environment.
Patsy is survived by her sister, Mary Ruth Batchelder, her brother, Christian Batchelder, her stepmother, Bobbi Batchelder, stepbrother Harley Parson and stepsister Joni Cropper, all of California, her husband, Andy Wiessner of Snowmass, and her two stepchildren, Mia Wiessner Olney and Angus Wiessner of Denver. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, Patsy has requested that donations be made to either the Idaho Conservation League of Boise, Idaho, or the Wilderness Workshop of Carbondale, Colorado.
