Occasionally you hear someone referred to as “a force to be reckoned with.” The Western Slope had a leader whose influence and personality were so powerful that, at Club 20, we only half-jokingly changed the expression to “a force to be Rectored with.”
Peggy Rector’s passing this week in Rangely at the age of 80 is the end of an era for that community, but her loss will be felt far beyond Rio Blanco County. She may not be eulogized on front-pages all across the West, expressing the appreciation of generations – she was never much of a self-promoter, and would not have wanted that – but she deserves it.
Seven years ago, after Peggy’s retirement from a number of boards, committees, and task forces, the Rio Blanco Herald Times published a wonderful tribute titled “Rangely’s Dynamo.” Her life’s work was inseparable from Rangely – she arrived there in 1962, only 15 years after the town was incorporated. She met Carl Rector, who worked for a small hydrostatic testing company serving the burgeoning oil industry, and the rest, as they say, is history. They bought the company, and eventually founded their own well service firm.
Their timing was perfect. Rangely’s famous Weber oil field was discovered in the 1930’s, and Chevron began major production in 1947. One of its wells was the most productive single well in U.S. history, and the Rangely Weber field became the largest in the Rocky Mountain region. It has produced over 900 million barrels, enough to run Suncor’s major Colorado refinery for 26 years. Carl and Peggy Rector were part of that growth for half a century.
Peggy’s community involvement began with a visit to the local planning commission. She wanted better standards, after she and her children almost suffocated in the poorly ventilated building they lived in. She was so persuasive they appointed her to the commission, and she held numerous public positions for the rest of her life. She served on the town council for several years, was elected Rio Blanco County Commissioner (a seat her son Jeff now holds), served on the boards of Colorado Counties, Rio Blanco Water District, Rangely Chamber of Commerce, the Women’s Resource Center, and Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (AGNC). She was elected Chairman of the Board of Club 20, so extensive was her reputation across the entire Western Slope.
Peggy Rector (friends called her Peg) leaves an enormous legacy in her community, including Kenney Reservoir, the municipal pool, the recreation district, the water treatment plant, the golf course, and especially the college. CNCC’s state-of-the-art sciences building is called the Rector Building. As CNCC Foundation chair, Peg hosted annual dinner dances, fund-raisers, and the famous Crab Crack event for more years than anyone remembers. She owned and operated several businesses, from the newspaper to the RV park, and no community improvement project lacked her positive influence. She was a tireless force, and she got her way.
My former Club 20 colleague, Wade Haerle, remembers her as “the world’s most Benevolent dictator” – that’s dictator with a small d, but benevolent with capital B. She never bragged, never threatened, was slow to temper, but she was determined – always for the benefit of the region. She may never have said “over my dead body” out loud, but we’re sure she thought it a few times. She worked quietly, person-to-person.
When Rangely needed a new reservoir a few years ago, it was Peg Rector who decided it was time to “start the process.” But she had already quietly secured support from major players at the Colorado River District, Colorado Water Conservation Board, State Water and Power Authority, the Basin Roundtable, key legislators, and a Governor. She got things done because she knew the process, respected it, and worked it better than anybody.
During her Club 20 tenure, she was nearly killed in a car crash, but two years of strenuous rehabilitation did not slow her resolve. She ran the Rangely newspaper, ran for town council again, serving two terms as mayor. She was the key player in legislation allocating state severance taxes back to the energy-impacted communities, eventually getting it passed with only one dissenting vote. She always credited others, as was her way, but hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed back into Rio Blanco, Garfield, Mesa, Moffat, Gunnison, La Plata and others, at least partly because of Peg Rector.
Her indomitable spirit and sense of humor are rare, perhaps irreplaceable. She was essential to Rangely, but in fact, she was all of “Western Colorado’s Dynamo.”
This column was published in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel July 5, 2019.
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