Webb Family Blog

I wanted to share a few more bits about Elgie. The following was in our program:

Elgie Rae Neil was born to Elgy and Ruth Neil on January 14, 1940, at the Calistoga Hospital in Calistoga, California. She was raised and attended grammar school in Pope Valley and in 1957 graduated from St. Helena High School. Elgie received her nursing degree from Samuel Merritt Nursing School in Oakland, CA. She worked as an RN for five years at the Veteran’s Home in Yountville, CA. Throughout her life she maintained her nursing credentials.

Elgie’s family owned the “Neil Ranch”, located along Putah Creek. There she spent time with her family and friends. She loved riding horses, deer hunting, and all of the other ways of life that the ranch represented. She was taught and was very proud of the correct way to skin a deer, and later taught her children the “art” of skinning and taking care of the meat. She loved to play cards; Pinochle, Hearts, Cribbage, and many others as well. When she was a young girl, family friends would come home to Pope Valley from the city toting fresh crab, and there would be a gathering for crab, cards, sourdough bread, and friendship.

Elgie married Bradley Kirkpatrick on May 2, 1964 at the St. Helena Presbyterian Church. They first lived in Napa and then moved to St. Helena. After the death of Elgie’s father, she and Brad and their son Keith moved to Pope Valley and took over the family business, the Pope Valley Garage. Their daughter Kaye was born a few years later to complete Elgie’s family.

She loved spending time with her children and was very active in their school events. She loved to garden and to fish. She spent many hours teaching her kids to trout fish along Burton Creek in Pope Valley. She also loved Indian history and searching for relics with her family. She loved animals and enjoyed her dogs and her cows. She also loved to cook and bake.

Elgie made dinner for her family every night and expected all to be at the dinner table. When the electricity would go out, many times neighbors would stop by to join Elgie’s family for dinner. Everyone knew of her antique wood burning stove, he wonderful meals she cooked on it, and the door was always open with warmth and friendship. She loved people and loved when friends and neighbors would stop by for a visit.

One of Elgie’s favorite things to do was dance. She loved the “Fireman Song” and all her firemen knew that when they heard Elgie’s song they better jump to it. The local boys would always make sure they played it for her. She worked hard at the Beef BBQ but at the end of the dinner she would shut the back door to the farm center, look at you and say, ok, time to dance. Then she would spend the rest of the evening dancing under the stars with her friends.

Elgie had endless patience and was the definition of the word selfless. She was very dedicated to her community and all the people in it. She really cared and would always do her best, no matter what that meant. She was honest and loyal and could be trusted to always give her true opinion and try to do what she knew was right. She was a mother to many and a friend to all.

Elgie was a pillar of the Pope Valley community. She was known for her tireless community service. Elgie was a volunteer firefighter/EMT with the Pope Valley Volunteer Fire Department for 30 years; served on the Pope Valley School board for 26 years; and was an EMT for Angwin Community Ambulance for 20 years. She conducted medical training in many of the volunteer departments throughout Napa County.

She was the hub of the wheel for Pope Valley Fire Department’s Beef BBQ and Turkey Shoot for many years. She watched as the Fire Department grew from one room to five rooms, and was very glad for the addition of the bathroom so she didn’t have to continually run across the street while she was at the station. She assisted people in learning medical skills and spent many hours with them as they grew under her tutelage. She was even known to drive the tow truck a time or two when needed.

Elgie rarely left Pope Valley, but she was able to venture out a few times in her lifetime. When her children were young, she and Brad took the family and some friends to Disneyland in 1976. In 1997, she and Brad traveled to Hawaii in compliments of a family friend that wanted to do something special for Elgie. She and her family took a trip to Arizona after the first year of chemotherapy and radiation. That was the first time that her family, including the grandchildren, had left Pope Valley together. Last year, she and Brad were taken on a dream vacation to Alaska with some dear friends.

Elgie loved her home and never wanted to get too far away from it. She demanded little from none and was always content with the simple things in life. She loved being a grandmother and even smiled in her last days when she would hear her grandchildren’s voices. She was a very unique person, a “one of a kind”. She will remain in our hearts forever.

Yesterday, I went to a memorial service for a friend of mine, Elgie Kirkpatrick. Elgie spent most of her life living in Pope Valley, California. Her husband, Brad used to own the Pope Valley Garage and Pope Valley Towing, as well as being the fire chief of the Pope Valley Volunteer Fire Department. Elgie also volunteered with the fire department, which is how I became friends with her. As many people may know, I used to volunteer with the Angwin Community Ambulance Company from 1991-2003 and the Angwin Fire Department from 1993-2003. The Angwin Fire Department had good relations with the Pope Valley Fire Department. Angwin frequently invited Pope Valley to train together. Angwin Ambulance responded to just about all of Pope Valley’s response area. Between 1997 and 2003, I had already become a nurse and ran more ambulance calls than any other single volunteer during that time. During this time, Elgie ran more medical or vehicle accident calls than any other single volunteer in Pope Valley. Elgie knew just about everyone that lived in Pope Valley. With her nursing background, EMT training and experience, she could calmly operate under the most extreme conditions. Whenever I went responding into Pope Valley or Lake Berryessa, I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Elgie’s voice on the Napa County Fire radio channel say “St. Helena: Rescue 20 is responding.” When I heard this, I knew that no matter how big or how little the situation was, it was going to be OK. Elgie and I worked well as a team. She frequently knew the patients and many details most people would not have found. After the call, the next time I saw Elgie, we would discuss many of the calls, critiquing what was truly wrong with the patient and what we did and what could have been done differently. Elgie would often fill me in on many details, such as history about the patient or she would talk with the family and get follow-up after the patient was delivered to the hospital. After these chat sessions, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I was able to help someone. So many times in the Emergency Medical Services world, you do what you are trained to do, but that is basically the extent. Many times you run into people with an attitude that they weren’t fully served. Many people are not appreciated. Many EMTs, paramedics and ER staff become numb or burned-out due to feelings that people don’t care. Elgie had a way of showing how the work I did was appreciated by my patients and their family; how I made someone else’s life better.

About the time that I moved away from Angwin and had to give up my volunteer jobs, Elgie came down with cancer. Living out of the area, I did not see Elgie much during her illness. I did make a few trips out to visit though. A year ago, Kellie and I made a trip through Napa County and I stopped by to visit her. She was getting around in the house at the time, but was still receiving aggressive cancer treatments. About a month ago, I got a call from a friend who mentioned that Elgie had been in the hospital for some time and had just returned home under hospice care. This means that care is not directed at curing the problem or prolonging life, but to reduce pain and suffering. Elgie died on May 29, 2007.

Kellie and I left Roseville at 7:30 AM for Angwin, as the memorial service was scheduled for 11:00 AM at the Pacific Union College Sanctuary. We arrived around 9:30 AM. I noticed that several of the Angwin Fire chiefs were directing traffic around the church. They were trying to clear the way for parking all the fire apparatus and ambulances. All of the Angwin Ambulances were there, as were all the Angwin Fire vehicles. A large American flag was affixed to the tip of the ladder on Truck 18 and lifted high above the roadway. Nearly every member of both departments were there in uniform. I had contemplated wearing my Angwin “dress” uniform, but didn’t know how appropriate it would be, considering I had been off the department for 4 years. When I saw Avery Browne, Angwin’s head fire chief, he made mention that he should try to find me a uniform. I told him I had brought mine, but didn’t know the appropriateness. Avery replied: “Raise your right hand…”, he waived his hand and said, “you’ve been duly authorized. If anyone gives you any grief, tell them I said so.” I went back to my car and put on my uniform. When I returned to the church, Quentin White, my former captain, issued me a mourning band to place over my badge. He also told me to enter a sit with the crew. I took Kellie inside the church and we found her a place to sit. I then returned to join my former comrades. After the rest of the audience sat, I joined firefighters from all over, dressed in dress uniform, down and sat in an area designated for firefighters. Former Pope Valley firefighter Steve Hamilton, now a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, conducted the memorial service. During the service, there was a slide show of Elgie’s life. Brad and Bruce Setterlund carried microphones to people the audience to say words of remembrance. Country/pop recording artist Kristen McNamera sang “Amazing Grace.” As she was singing, I had a few tears in my eyes and a large lump in my throat. She invited everyone to join her in the chorus, and while I love to sing, I was unable to, due to the lump in my throat. The service ended with Elgie’s “Last Call.” The CalFire/Napa County Fire dispatch center set off the alert tones of most departments in the county, setting off the big siren several times, in memory of Elgie. Following the service, there was a fire and ambulance procession down to the Pope Valley Fire Department.

Down at the Pope Valley Fire Department, I ran into many old friends I had not seen in years. I even saw my mother’s friend Shirley Burns. Her husband Mike has done business with Brad Kirkpatrick for many years. Kellie and I had some lunch and I talked to many people, introducing Kellie to several. It was a good day under sad circumstances.

It has again been a while since a post. Right now, Kellie and I are in Bass Lake, near Yosemite. We are staying at the WorldMark Resort with both our parents and Kellie’s cousin Katie. Today we went to Yosemite Valley. We had planned on doing much more than we did, but it was still a fun day. Last night, we arrived to the resort around 5PM or so. We checked into our units and had some dinner. After the meal, we headed down to the pool and hot tub; it was quite relaxing. This morning, we arrived to the Yosemite Valley around 11AM. Our first stop inside the park was on a lookout point, near the tunnel on the Highway 41 entrance.

We then continued on down to the floor. We stopped at Dagnan’s Deli to get sandwiches. Originally, Kellie, Katie and Ron were going to go up the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls, but we realized we didn’t have enough time. We ended up going to Lower Yosemite Falls…

After visiting the falls, we went over to Curry Village and some of us had some ice cream. We were all feeling a bit tired and decided to head back up the hill.

We stopped in Wawona, at the Pioneer Village where I got a little more sleep in the nice jail/powder house/morgue they have there.

We are finally back at the resort. We plan to head to the valley floor earlier tomorrow.