• Mimmack Family Honors Bill Mimmack with Donation to EAHS Carriage House Project
A significant contribution to the Eaton Area Historical Society Carriage House project fund has been made by Jim and wife LaNell Mimmack in honor of Jim’s brother William Edward Mimmack Jr. PhD.
The current Museum space is well-utilized for display of numerous collections owned and curated by the EAHS, but does not provide enough space to allow for adequate display and interpretation of all the valuable and fascinating historical items that have been acquired by and donated to the museum. The current (not historical) garage behind the museum will be removed and replaced with a 1400 square foot, two story carriage house-style building in which the EAHS plans to display military, school, and agriculture collections. The Mimmack memorial gift is a major step toward realizing the funds necessary for the project.
Fred Mimmack House at 325 Elm
Jim is a member of EAHS and owns 325 Elm Avenue in Eaton.The house was built by grandad Fred Mimmack in 1903 so his boys would not have to ride horseback seven miles each way to attend school in Eaton.
William E. (Bill) Mimmack was born August 22, 1926 in a Sugar House in Eaton, Colorado. He died September 8, 2019 at Sierra Medical Center, El Paso Texas, and is buried in the family plot in Linn Grove cemetery in Greeley. Father was William Sr., Mother was Margaret Macmillan Mimmack.
Great Grandparents Thomas and Mary were original colonists of The Union Colony at Greeley, arriving in 1870 via the new transcontinental railroad with four children: Sarah, Jane, Emma, Willie, and Fred.
Fred married Minnie Newlin and had two boys, Rufus and Bill Sr. Rufus moved to Southern California, married Georgina Smillie of Eaton, and had two children: Georgina and Fred. Fred is a member of the Eaton Area Historical Society.
Bill Sr. and family lived with Grandad Fred Mimmack on his farm east of Ault near Wyatt School. Bill Sr. died suddenly in December 1935, and the family moved to Denver. Son Bill Jr. graduated in Denver from East High class of 1944, then joined the Navy. Discharged in 1946, he enrolled at CU and graduated BS in Physics in 1950.
Bill Jr.’s first job was at the White Sands Missile Range where he specialized in optics. He took time out to get a PhD in Optics at U of Rochester 1972. He worked as a consultant until retiring from optics, then attended University of Texas El Paso, studying philosophy, literature, the humanities. He learned Latin and Greek so he could read the classics in the original.
He then went into deep retirement living a quiet life taking care of his cats, reading and visiting friends. He was a generous person well-liked by family and friends.
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• Happy New Year from the EAHS Board! We expect the upcoming year to be truly exciting. The Board has changes — new president: Carolyn Prior, new vice-president Nomie Ketterling, new treasurer: Art Meyer, and new membership chair: Peg Riley. Marcia Schmidke will return as secretary.
As part of our 2020 agenda we will be posting a copy of the minutes from the EAHS general meeting to keep you up with what’s going on with the historical society. Members who have provided an email address will receive the minutes via email. 2019 November Annual Meeting Minutes are available by clicking here: EAHS Nov ’19 minutes.
Please note the change to the location of the EAHS monthly general meeting. It will no longer be held at the Eaton Public Library. Instead, we will be meeting at the Eaton Area Community Center (called “the rec center” by most folks), 1675 3rd Street, Eaton, CO. The time for the meeting will still be 7 PM. We will meet in the room next to the swimming pool. Meetings are the last Monday of the month unless otherwise noted. Next meeting is January 27th.
The Carriage House project planning and fund raising are moving right along toward our goal of building a replica carriage house to replace the old garage behind the museum.
We are looking forward to a special year with lots going on. Hope you can join us at our meetings.
Best Regards – The EAHS Board
• News and information is also posted on our Facebook page regularly
https://www.facebook.com/eaton.historical
