Ouray County Regional Service Authority Board of Directors
District #1 — Coleen McElroy
Mailing Address: PO Box 1
Ridgway, CO 81432
TERM EXPIRES 2024
Coleen McElroy has been a permanent resident of Ouray County since 1984. Her family history in the general area goes back over a hundred years. All of her children have been raised here and now her grandchildren are being raised here. She worked for the City Of Ouray at the Hot Springs Pool. She had a 20 year Postal career that started in Ridgway and ended in Montrose in 2010 when she retired. At the Montrose Post Office, she was in charge of maintaining both the main office and the carrier annex. Her duties included handling all of the contracts for maintaining the buildings, ordering all supplies, and paying all of the bills. During that time, she was also a Ouray County EMT, riding on both Ouray and Ridgway ambulances. She currently works for Ouray County as the Lot Administrator at the Dallas Park Cemetery, outside of Ridgway. She also belongs to the Mt. Hayden Rebekah’s Lodge in Ouray. She currently resides on property inherited from her father that has been in the family since the early 1930’s. It’s a special property with its own private family cemetery on the land that her Great Aunt, Bessie Tharpe, started when she was a business partner with Tuffy (Leo) Flor, in the Tharpe & Flor Funeral Home. Coleen absolutely loves Ouray County and cannot imagine living anywhere else.
District #2 — Nancy Nixon
302 Oak St
Ouray, CO 81427
TERM EXPIRES 2026
Nancy and her husband John moved to Ouray in 1975. They owned and operated Baker’s Manor Bed and Breakfast for 10 years in the summer months while Nancy taught school and John ‘architected.’ Nancy is a retired teacher with 42 years of classroom, 30 years of directing high school plays and coaching the speech and debate team. She now works at the Ouray Bookshop, drives the Ouray ambulance and enjoys watercolor painting, reading and hiking. She has served on the boards of The Friends of the Library, Ouray County Fair board, WISE/AAUW, Neighbor-to-Neighbor, the Imogene Pass Run and The Wright Opera House.
District #3 – Vonnie M. Kuijvenhoven, Vice President
6124 County Rd 5
Ridgway, CO 81432
TERM EXPIRES 2024
A Nebraska native, Vonnie was co-owner of an electronics manufacturing firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, until selling the business and retiring in 1991. After a few years sailing and traveling, Ridgway became home in 1996. With two granddaughters in Ridgway, Vonnie has volunteered with Ridgway School, Weehawken Creative Arts, and Mt Sneffels Education Foundation. She volunteers with Sherbino Theater and The Ridgway Visitor Center. She has served as treasurer for several years for Ridgway Community Pride Association/Ouray County Cares and Ouray County Republican Central Committee. She is the current treasurer for Fortuna Tierra Club, a local 501C organization providing scholarship funding for Ridgway Secondary School District graduates.
District #4 – Carolyn Dresler, MD
TERM Expires 2026
Carolyn Dresler, MD, MPA was born, raised and educated in Colorado. She built her dream home in Ouray County in 1998 and retired full time to Colorado in 2018. She retired from the FDA Center for Tobacco Products as the Associate Director for Medical and Health Sciences. She completed a Master in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is a retired thoracic surgical oncologist and former Board member for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. She was the Head of the Group for Tobacco and Cancer at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. Her passion is utilizing the human rights framework to improve tobacco control and was the founding President of the international Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network. She is retired from income producing work, but still actively working in western Colorado for local tobacco control regulation and is the coordinator for the state tobacco control Alliance. She is on the Board of the international non-profit, based in Washington DC of Action on Smoking and Health. She is also the current (2023-24) co-president of the Ridgway Ouray Community Council.
District #5 – Joey Huddleston, President
22 Piedmont
Ridgway, CO 81432
TERM EXPIRES 2024
Joey Huddleston and wife Kathy had the desire to retire to this area after their first visit in 1976. They became property owners in Ouray County in 1990 and residents since 2007. Prior to his retirement in 2007 Joey was an Account Executive for Standard Register for 35 years focusing on providing products and services to large hospital integrated delivery networks, working closely with medical staff and management to create programs tailored to their patient and operational needs. After retiring to Ouray County, Joey became involved as a volunteer and board member of both the Ouray County Historical Society and the Neighbor to Neighbor organization which operates the Ouray County Senior Van and hosts luncheons and activities for the seniors of our county. In 2010 Joey became a volunteer for Ouray County EMS as an ambulance driver, and after training and certification, as an Emergency Medical Technician in 2011 and where he continues as an active volunteer on Ridgway Ambulance.
Correspondence to the Board members may be sent to:
Ouray County Regional Service Authority
PO Box 1262 Ridgway, CO 81432
ouraycountyrsa@gmail.com