Christy Welliver, co-founder of Columbia's Pednet Coalition, dies at 59

Today's Columbia Tribune has a tribute to Christy Welliver, co-founder of Columbia's Pednet Coalition:

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. . . .

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.

The Columbia Missourian adds:

Welliver, the daughter of former Missouri Supreme Court Judge and Sen. Warren D. Welliver, was an activist for many causes in Columbia, most notably for her outspokenness on equal rights for persons with disabilities. . . .

In many ways because of her personality, and in many ways because of her own disability, she advocated for and succeeded in making sidewalks and entrances more accessible to those in wheelchairs throughout Columbia, Cooper said.

ThinkYouColors posted a video interview with Christy:

Welliver was involved with one of Pednet's first major accomplishments, the adoption of new bicycle and pedestrian friendly streets standards in Columbia in 2004. Chip Cooper wrote:

Christy was also a member of a City task force in 2004 that developed Columbia's current Model Street Standards. Her presence on that committee helped to raise awareness of the fundamental needs of people using mobility devices and led directly to a growing network of sidewalks (which previously had been viewed, at times, as optional) which now require a minimum width of 5'. Early in that process, Christy made a video with KOMU of her attempt to travel in her wheelchair along the north side of West Broadway from West Blvd to Downtown. The sidewalk was in horrible condition and it was impossible for her to avoid having to enter the busy street at times to reach her destination. At one point she was trapped on the sidewalk and needed help to redirect. The video was played for the City Council (and aired on cable TV) and poignantly illustrated the challenges faced by people using wheelchairs to simply get around town. I'm pretty sure it was the shot in the arm necessary to advance the revision of the Model Street Standards. While there have since been many improvements around the city, today, that same sidewalk remains in horrendous condition and still needs major repairs. Probably time to get going on that!

PedNet has created a page where many people who knew Christy have shared their thoughts.

Contributions in memory of Christy can be made to the following fund:

Christy Welliver Scholarship Fund
University of Missouri Health System
MS Institute
c/o Deanna Harper
One Hospital Drive, DC 205.00
Columbia, MO 65212