In Memoriam

Pat Bybee, RCE, respected and influential MLS executive, was killed in a car crash on March 13 outside of Boulder, Colo. Bybee was president and CEO of Metrolist, the largest MLS in Colorado, for 27 years before leaving in 2011. Bybee joined the REALTOR® organization in 1974 as MLS administrator for the Scottsdale Board of REALTORS® and was the association executive of the Eugene Board of REALTORS®, Ore., from 1978 to 1984. She was inducted in to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ Dr. Almon R. (Bud) Smith, RCE, AE Leadership Society in 1998. Bybee, 61, lived in Littleton, Colo., with her husband, Vern Bybee.

The Patricia J. Bybee Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established at the Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management at Denver University. The fund will be used to support deserving students at the Burns School who are pursuing real estate management careers at the undergraduate or graduate level. To donate to the fund, make checks out to Burns School University of Denver (with a note or memo that says Patricia J. Bybee Memorial Scholarship Fund) and mail to: Dr. Mark Lee Levine, Professor, Burns School/Daniels College, University of Denver, 2101 South University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208. For more information on the scholarship, call 303-871-2142.

Ashton Welch, RCE, former executive vice president of the Montana Association of REALTORS® before retiring in 2005, died March 14 at his home in Concord, N.H. Welch had been battling COPD for several years.

Welch was inducted into the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ Dr. Almon R. (Bud) Smith, RCE, AE Leadership Society in 2001, and served on the editorial board of REALTOR® AE magazine. He was a member of the REALTOR® family for nearly 20 years, starting out as government affairs director and later executive vice president of the New Hampshire Association of REALTORS®.

Welch, 70, served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and was also a professional photographer. Welch is survived by his wife, Carol, four sons, and thirteen grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy Development Fund, 907 First New Hampshire Turnpike, Northwood, NH 03261, or the First Congregational Church of Concord, Development Fund, 177 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301.

Andrew Wooten, 50, a safety instructor for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, and a frequent state and local REALTOR® association safety presenter, drowned Feb. 26 in a tragic accident when he was caught in a riptide off the coast of Mexico near Cozumel. Wooten was the president of Safety Awareness Firearms Education (S.A.F.E.), and had been in the safety and security industry for more than 24 years. Wooten was serving as an instructor for a real estate continuing education Seminar at Sea, sponsored by the Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS®, Fla., when he died.