9/13/09 ~ 5/8/04
Eleanor (Nell) Sherrod Midgley, age 94, died in her sleep in Salt Lake City on May 8, 2004.
Born in Riverton, Alabama, on September 13, 1909, she was the ninth of ten children of Robert Atlas and Emma Tice Sherrod. The family moved to Idaho when Nell was an infant, and to Salt Lake shortly thereafter. Nell attended Wasatch Elementary School and East High School. At East, she was active in speech, drama, debate, and athletics. She won many awards for academic excellence, including the D.A.R. and Stevens medals for speech and debate. Her interest in speech and drama continued at the University of Utah, where she studied under and was mentored by Lila Eccles Brimhall.
Gifted with a rich contralto voice, precise diction, a love of words, and a keen wit, Nell created, directed, and performed in original programming for KDYL (now KCPX) radio, where she was the first female broadcaster in Utah. She developed children's programs and broadcast weekly poetry readings.
With her sister Jeanette, she attended the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1938. There she married Waldo Park Midgley, eminent Utah and New York artist of the "ashcan school." Nell and Waldo lived for half a century in Manhattan and Monhigan Island, Maine.
For many years, Nell was affiliated with Books for the Blind as a professional reader. She was a distinguished volunteer at Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she worked with the patients' library and the Art Cart Project. She was also noted for her expertise at detailed needlework and her elegant sense of style. An animal lover, she actively supported animal rescue services throughout her life.
After their return to Salt Lake in retirement, the Midgleys continued their professional interests, and Waldo was honored with several large retrospective exhibitions. Following Waldo's death in 1986, she continued to manage his portfolio, placing his paintings in many nationally-known museums and galleries as well as in private collections on the East Coast and the intermountain West.
Funeral services will be at 12 noon on Saturday, May 15, at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Chapel, followed by interment of ashes at City Cemetery.
Nell is survived by nieces and nephew Dorothy Bearnson, Jeanne Penman Harvey, Judith Midgley Kirkendall, Carolee Powell Saber, Thomas M. Sherrod, and Catherine Sherrod Crapo, stepson Van Midgley, stepgrandchildren Van Midgley II and Lenore Midgley Resnik, great-niece JoAnn Galloway, and great-nephew Lee Saber.
Memorial Contributions can be made to the Eleanor Sherrod Midgley memorial collection, Marriott Library, University of Utah, 201 Presidents Circle, Rm 302, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-9015.