Rachel Page Elliott

Eric Johnson · Mar 21, 2009

Rachel Page Elliott has passed away. Pagey was 96 years, and was active with people, dogs, other animals, etc right up until the end. She was magnificent and pleasant lady & a stellar friend to dogs and those who love them.

Most of this crowd may not know of Pagey. She brought science to the study of canine gait and motion with her studies (using radiographic type technology). Her best known work and a classic is _DogSteps_ in both book and DVD.

She and her husband founded Featherquest Goldens in 1941 and they were always a proponent of the breed, particularly in the field. In her latter years she developed an affection for agility (!) and making wooden crossword puzzles.

She was an amazing woman. See:

http://www.grca.org/history_breed/pagey.html ...and ... http://www.grca.org/history_breed/pagey-tale.html

Eric

kindakinky · Mar 21, 2009

I will always remember how I learned about dog structure. It was from Ms. Elliott. Her 'radiographs' of real, moving dogs made me understand that dogs were different from horses and the 45-degree angled shoulder in dogs was "untenable".

She actually LOOKED and photographed dogs' shoulders, instead of just spouting the old adage of 45 degrees, 45 degrees. Her opinion went against the grain and still is considered radical because most people just want to accept the old adages.

I admired her greatly as being one of the first "dog folks" who actually did research instead of repeating the same old, same old.

Loved her for her spunk, her refusal to accept the status quo, and her gentle educating of dog folk. Only a person who loved dogs like she did would be so courageous to buck the prevailing opinion.

Great women of her generation were not made: they invented themselves.

Thank you "Rachey". No disrespect intended but YOU GO GIRL. You powered an entire generation of folks who know to look, research, and question, question, question.

Janean Marti
Ptarmigan Curly Coated Retrievers--Est. 1977

jgrammer · Mar 21, 2009

The Golden world lost a great one. Awesome woman. Jean

John Gassner · Mar 21, 2009

jgrammer said:
The Golden world lost a great one. Awesome woman. Jean

The Dog world has lost a great one!

windycanyon · Mar 21, 2009

She left her mark, for sure. I have her video too. Great work.. she'll be missed. Anne

AmiableLabs · Mar 21, 2009

Dogsteps has been a VERY important book to us going back to our show dog years almost thirty years ago.

I had no idea she was a Golden fancier.

She will be missed.

jgrammer · Mar 21, 2009

jgrammer said:
The Golden world lost a great one. Awesome woman. Jean

John Gassner said:
The Dog world has lost a great one!

Yes! I stand corrected. Jean

Eric Johnson · Mar 21, 2009

Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 11:11 PM
Subject: [FriendsOfJag] A Sad Day for the Golden Community

This is a forward from some of the members of YGRC, regarding our
beloved Pagey Elliott, who passed away peacefully today, at the age of
96. Please feel free to cross post this announcement, and to participate
in the memorial if you can. I will post more details once they have been
finalized.
Carolyn

Dear Members:

We lost our beloved Pagey this morning. Services will be at the First
Parish Church in Concord, MA at 2 p.m. either Thursday or Friday. The
date will be finalized shortly. Everyone is welcomed at this Service
Celebrating Pagey's Life.

We have received permission from the family to honor Pagey as the
Champion she was with a bagpiper and a Golden Color Guard in Tartan
bandanas. We expect approximately 100 Goldens in this Color Guard . They
will stand silently with their owners on each side of the church walkway
as people enter the church for services.

The bagpiper will pipe Pagey home, standing with the Golden Honor Guard
prior to the services.

If you would like to be part of this Golden Honor Guard please E-mail us
your name and Monday, after viewing the site and confirming all the
particulars such as parking etc., we will send you a message that will
more fully describe what you will need to know to participate.
After people have entered the church the Golden Honor Guard participants
may, weather permitting, put their Golden in their van and attend the
service. If for any reason it is in the best interest of the dog for you
to leave before the service you will do so knowing that you have given a
heartfelt tribute to a wonderful person. A true Champion in all ways.
We will be at Hudson Valley this weekend but feel free to E-mail us your
name at any time, just realize we will not be able to respond until
Monday. Please share this message with other Golden people.
Thank You.
Sandra Dunn, Susan Foster, Joy Viola and Joan Puglia
e-mail - jepgoldens@yahoo.com

Gerry Clinchy · Mar 21, 2009

On another forum, someone who knew Pagey well, Chris Miele, suggested a most appropriate way to honor this great dog person's legacy:

We will miss her terribly - but those of you who didn't know her, please
take the time to learn what she wanted us to know.

Eric Johnson · Mar 21, 2009

Services will be held at the Unitarian Church, Fri., 2:00 p.m., in Concord, MA.

Eric

jluther · Mar 28, 2009

Thanks to Nancy Green, here's a video showing the golden honor guard at Pagey's memorial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbx5YI_E3xc

Approximately 50 goldens. Yes, they're wearing tartan banadanas. (It's a memorial--these dogs are exempt from wisecracks....)

-Julie

Judy Chute · Mar 28, 2009

Thank you for posting the video, Julie.

Channel 42 out of Boston, MA...just showed footage of the celebration...bagpipes playing. They also interviewed Jan Bramhall and some others. They spoke of the history of Featherquest, showed pictures of "Pagey" on her beautiful riding horse, and pictures of her wonderful puzzles. ..spoke of her love for all animals. Very nicely done.

Very moving..

Judy

Rachel Page Elliott

Eric Johnson

kindakinky

jgrammer

John Gassner

windycanyon

AmiableLabs

jgrammer

Eric Johnson

Gerry Clinchy

Eric Johnson

jluther

Judy Chute

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