Pat Worley, who worked at the state House for 22 years before retiring this summer, is surrounded by current and former lawmakers at a party at her home in Fort Lupton. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
Former House clerk Pat Worley with two speakers of the House, Mark Ferrandino, right, and Terrance Carroll, second row. (By Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
Longtime statehouse clerk Pat Worley worried no one would show up to her retirement party, but it turns out her fans — including House Speaker Mark Ferrandino — drove from across the state to say good-bye.
Former lawmaker Jack Taylor and his wife Geneva came from Steamboat Springs. Former lawmaker Wes McKinley arrived from Walsh in Colorado’s most southeastern county. And Rep. Ed Vigil drove from Fort Garland near the New Mexico border, then turned around and drove home that night.
Prominently displayed at her party this month the party was Worley’s retirement story from the Denver Post, the one that inspired her relatives to joke it read like an obituary:
Every workplace needs a Pat Worley, the employee who brings green-themed food for St. Patrick’s Day, organizes fundraisers and is a co-conspirator in a range of pranks.
Worley — who once described her hair dye as “Oh My God” red and frequently wore cowboy boots that matched her outfits — retired July 31 after working 22 years for the Colorado House of Representatives.
Lawmakers past and present can’t imagine life under the Gold Dome without Worley, who relished her nickname, “Evil Pat.”
Two of the eight speakers Worley served under were present, Ferrandino and Terrance Carroll, both Denver Democrats.
Ferrandino got one of the biggest laughs at the party when he misread a tribute to Worley that talked about her “countless worthy causes.” He said “worthless.”
“I thought you were talking about the Democrat agenda there,” Republican Rep. Mark Waller joked.
