A cancer victim who fell in love with Rocky Mountain National Park has left a $1 million gift to the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Nature Association.
Organization officials say the bequest from Carol Louise Braun will fund 10 of its programs for generations to come.
Braun’s gift includes her Estes Park home, an adjacent bunkhouse and $800,000, according to Curt Buchholtz, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Nature Association.
The bequest will be applied to the association’s Next Generation Endowment, designed to teach young people about the park through educational programs and publications.
Braun, a medical transcriptionist originally from Kansas City, first visited the park in 1992. She loved it so much that she convinced her Kansas City employer six years ago to let her move to Estes Park.
There she continued to transcribe medical records from her new home until her death in December at the age of 51.
Among the programs her gift will fund are the American Conservation Corps, the park’s environmental education program and the park’s Junior Ranger Program.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
