Bridget “Biddy” McColville 1945-2024

Bridget “Biddy” McColville passed away on July 5th, 2024, after a long battle with lung cancer (she was not a smoker). Biddy was born on July 7, 1945, in the county of Radnorshire, Wales, Great Britain. She earned a BFA at Chelsea College of Art, London UK; an Art Teachers Diploma at Leicester Polytechnic, Leicester, UK; an International Montessori Teaching Diploma, AMI (The Montessori Society), London, UK; and a Certificate of Forestry, Conservation, and Wildlife, Atlanta, GA. Biddy moved to the United States and became a naturalized citizen in 1991. She worked as a ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the non-profit American Conservation Experience , and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife in several western states. She wrote the booklet “Loving the Laccolith – Hiking Guide to Pine Valley Mountain,” describing the trails around Pine Valley Mountain in southwestern Utah.

Biddy loved the outdoors and spent time camping, gardening, and painting. One would often see her riding her bicycle on roads to the north and south of Socorro. She volunteered at the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and she was a diligent “trail-fairy,” picking up trash along the Rio Grande Bosque trails north of Otero Park for many years. Biddy was active in the Transcendental Meditation movement for fifty years, and then followed the Indian spiritual community, Oneness. Biddy is survived by a sister, Judy, and a niece, Ameena, who both live in England.

A memorial gathering to celebrate her life will be held at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in the Socorro Village community room, 444 Eaton Ave., Socorro, NM 87801.