Edna McCormack was an organizing whirlwind.
McCormack, who died Oct. 26 at 98, was instrumental in getting the North Jeffco Park & Recreation District organized in 1956 and expanding it over the years.
“You can’t just sit there. You need to get up and do something,” she would often tell people, said Jan Eckhardt, who served on the North Jeffco Park & Recreation board with McCormack. “Get off your butts, and get this program going,” she would say.
Services for McCormack will be today at Arvada United Methodist Church, West 68th Avenue and Carr Street.
McCormack was a “cheerleader for kids, parks, recreation and seniors,” said Eckhardt.
She also was an athlete and taught physical education in Denver elementary schools for 42 years. In addition to teaching, she coached several sports and taught folk dancing.
She played 18 holes of golf three times a week until she was 95 and participated in gymnastics, soccer, tumbling and softball throughout her life.
The North Jeffco district now has three pools and a senior recreation center.
The Apex Center, which opened in 2001, in part through McCormack’s efforts, has swimming, ice skating, workout facilities and a climbing wall. A room there is named for her.
McCormack was so enamored with Babe Didrikson, the renowned female athlete, that she and friends drove in McCormack’s Model A Ford to see Didrikson at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1932, said her daughter Sue Ann Von Feldt of Monument.
She also was such a believer in women’s rights that she named Von Feldt in honor of suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony.
“She passed on a huge legacy,” said daughter Dora Beth Parsons of Pueblo.
“She was a joy to be around,” said Eckhardt.
Edna McCormack is in the Vail Ski Hall of Fame and was given a “Woman of the Year” award by Arvada. Several years ago, Aug. 23 was declared Edna McCormack Day in Arvada.
Edna Romans was born Aug. 23, 1909, in Greeley, then moved with her parents to Agate and then to Louisville and Arvada, where she graduated from high school.
She was on the track, swimming, hockey and basketball teams at the University of Northern Colorado, where she received a degree in physical education.
She married Ralph Albert Parsons, with whom she had three children. He died when the children were young.
She later married George McCormack.
In addition to the recreation center, McCormack was active at the Arvada Center as a docent, the Arvada Historical Society, her church and Denver Urban Ministries.
Surviving along with her two daughters are her son, Ralph McCormack of Arvada, and four grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
