This page commemorates the wonderful people who have made a difference in our organization’s history.

Alexandra Ward

Cornerstones lost our very special friend and colleague, Alexandra Ward, who died unexpectedly after a brief illness in 2018.

Alexandra was an important and integral part of Cornerstones for more than 20 years. Her talent and dedication allowed her to assume a wide range of roles in our organization.

As a transplanted Easterner, she became fascinated by and indulged in “mudding”, Cornerstones’ time-honored specialty. She relished working in rural communities, helping to mud-plaster walls and developing relationships with the townspeople. Eventually, she was elected to Cornerstones’ Board of Directors, serving first as Secretary and then, Chair. When the organization went through a re-organization, she stepped in as Director for a year, without pay!

There seemed to be nothing Alexandra couldn’t do…successfully! Aside from her amazing adaptability, her most notable quality was her genuine modesty.

Elvira Ogard

Elvira Ogard, or Elvie as she preferred to be called, was one of a kind, a true renaissance woman, with an irrepressible and sometimes irreverent sense of humor and a love for all things creative. Born and raised in Pajarito in the shadow of Black Mesa, she had a deep appreciation for the diverse and unique culture of Northern New Mexico. Her love of learning extended throughout her life during which she attended Highlands and various other universities, always focusing on the arts and literature. She and her husband, Al, lived in various countries in Europe and cities in the United States, but her heart was always in Northern New Mexico.

In 1991, working with Cornerstones, she successfully encouraged the full restoration of La Sagrada Familia, or family chapel, in Pajarito, which was one of the Cornerstones’ earliest projects. She participated in its restoration, happily up to her elbows in adobe. She later became a member of the board of Directors and served for many years in that capacity and was frequently on site mudding along with community members, in spite of increasingly disabling rheumatoid arthritis.

She chuckled until she could chuckle no more and all of us who knew and loved her will miss her forever.

Robert Nordhaus

As a community-based organization built on the dedication of its participants, Cornerstones is always sad to lose one of our own. On Christmas Eve 2016, our Board Vice-Chair Robert Nordhaus passed away. Bob grew up in both Albuquerque and rural San Miguel County. His family has a long history in New Mexico having arrived here from Germany in the mid-19th century. His professional life was spent in Washington DC where he participated in many legislative and policy achievements for which he earned respect, admiration and friendship. He spent holidays out here where his heart was, either skiing in Taos or vacationing with family at his grandfather’s ranch, Trout Springs, above Las Vegas. When he was asked to join the Board in 2014, he began asking hard questions on how Cornerstones could be more relevant and effective in our efforts to fulfill our mission. He was a constant, vigilant and constructive mentor to Jake Barrow, Director. Jake could turn to Bob whenever he had questions dealing with legal review, the role of the director, board communications, or ways in which the organization should better respond to needs in the communities we serve. He gave generously of his time and participated as much as he could, even in his last challenging days. His focus was always in support of our mission, namely the preservation of rural New Mexico.

Jim Gautier 1934-2021

Over 34 years, Jim Gautier volunteered to document the mission churches of New Mexico tying his work to our projects. Throughout his decades as a photographer, Jim continuously donated proceeds from his prints to Cornerstones. His dedicated and devoted spirit expressed themselves through his work to convey a sense of a place. Jim began his professional career with the YMCA; soon he became Director of the Los Alamos YMCA where he loved developing youth programs. Towards retirement, he served on numerous boards, including ours.

Before his untimely death, Jim and Jake envisioned transforming Cornerstones’ office foyer into a gallery. We made that dream a reality in December 2022. We are honored to show Jim’s elegant black & white photographs of New Mexico’s Mission Churches and several of his hand-painted encaustic prints in our gallery. This collection, generously donated to Cornerstones by Peggy Gautier, is available for purchase.