Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2011
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
Copyright: 2011 Columbia Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.columbiatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/91
Author: Jodie Jackson Jr.

ACTIVIST CHRISTY WELLIVER DIES AT 59

Chip Cooper remembers meeting Christy Welliver on the MKT Trail in
1999 and how they hatched an idea for Columbia to have an extensive
network of trails.

"She was really psyched about the whole notion," said Cooper, who
co-founded the PedNet Coalition with Welliver a year later, serving as
the group's first president with Welliver as vice president.

Welliver, 59, died late yesterday at University Hospital, where she
had been a patient since June 25. Welliver, who had multiple sclerosis
and had used a wheelchair since 1985, was remembered today as an
energetic advocate for people with disabilities. She had been in a
coma and was surrounded by friends and supporters since entering the
hospital. Cooper said he began gathering written tributes and
memorials two weeks ago. "She was just a remarkable person in many
ways," Cooper said. "Probably above and beyond everything else, it was
just her commitment to community service, her commitment to friends
and family, and her amazingly optimistic view of everything."

The tributes he collected on Welliver's behalf contained common
themes. Southern District Boone County Commissioner Karen Miller
called Welliver an "articulate, bright, funny individual."

"She fought for what she believed in, and many of her goals were just
to make the world a better place for all of us," Miller said.

Columbia attorney Dan Viets credited Welliver for important work as
part of the Mid-Missouri ACLU chapter and with NORML. Welliver was
active in the effort to pass an ordinance on medical marijuana in 2004
as she advocated for the benefits of medical marijuana to treat
symptoms of MS.

"She was a bright, beautiful, wonderful woman, and it was our good
fortune to know her," Viets said.

Former City Manager Bill Watkins noted Welliver's volunteer service on
several city committees and task forces aimed at improving access and
services for people with disabilities. "She was an important light in
our community and will be missed," Watkins' tribute said.

Cooper said Welliver insisted that anything to help people who use
wheelchairs "inevitably helps people on foot or on bike." He recalled
her telling him there was an 85 percent chance he would be in a
wheelchair, too, if he lived long enough. She told him, "I'm just a
little early."

"She just had this penetrating, kind, gentle way of bringing these
matters to your attention," Cooper said.

As a result, the PedNet logo features a bicycle, a foot and a
wheelchair.

"She was just a sweet, beautiful, gentle soul," he said. "We'll really
miss her."

Welliver was a member of the city's public transportation advisory
commission and the PedNet board of directors. She also was a board
member for the Family Counseling Center of Missouri and Cedar Creek
Therapeutic Riding Center. She was the daughter of former Missouri
state senator and Supreme Court Judge Warren Welliver, who died in
2007.

Funeral arrangements are pending. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.