In 2024 AAUW Durango began fundraising for an endowed scholarship to honor Mary Lou McElreath Falkenstein and Ann Butler.  The Spring Book and Author event will be the primary fundraiser for this fund,  But you can always donate using the donate tab on this site.

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Mary Lou McElreath Falkenstein, 1928-2020
Lou Falkenstein, born in Durant, OK, attended Texas State Women’s College, then graduated from North Texas State University with a BA in history. She later had a 28-year career as a Social Worker. She and her husband, Bill, moved to Durango in 1988. She was a life-long activist and humanitarian. She marched against the Iraq War and for women’s rights during the Me Too movement. A member of the League of Women Voters since 1963, Lou joined AAUW in 1988.

In Durango she belonged to several choral societies and book clubs. Lou supported and was active in AAUW Durango and served as co-president with Judith Reynolds.

 

 

Ann Elizabeth Butler, 1955-2023
Ann Elizabeth Butler was a Durango native. She attended Needham Elementary and Durango High School. Ann excelled at languages and graduated from the University of Denver with a major in Spanish and Latin American Studies. She may be best known as a reporter for the Durango Herald . Her column, “Neighbors” told the delightful, warm stories of local events and people.

In 2013 the Durango Art Center named her Sweetheart of the Arts for her contributions to the community as a whole and the arts in particular. She wrote obituaries for the Herald, helping and consoling thousands of families in their time of grieving. Ann belonged to many local organizations, including Rotary, the Reading Club of Durango, and AAUW. In 2022 she gave her
by-now-famous obituary-writing presentation to a fledgling AAUW memoir writing group and said, “Write it!”