Cora's Memorial
Ella and Cora Wagner, United Prairie Foundations native nursery.
It all started when Ella was 14, she started working at United Prairie Foundation with her supervisor Elizabeth Bartholomay. Ella had already worked for us for quite a few years and then in the spring of 2019 her older sister Cora started working for the Foundation. Our big mission that summer was to build our greenhouse. I was struggling and had never built anything yet alone a greenhouse, Cora came to me and said I got this and I’m looking at this high school girl like really. She was serious and took the construction lead. I mean it’s real, that girl gave me hope and gave the inspiration to her entire team to construct and grow United Prairie Foundations native nursery. Cora took to the plants and could see how the ecosystem was hurting.
Cora was incredible, the girl was very driven, smart and she built the greenhouse and with her friends built United Prairie Foundations Native Nursery. I miss her so much. With covid impacting the Nurseries first year Cora’s enthusiastic absence was a void we are still trying to heal from. I knew her little sister Ella for years but only knew Cora for a couple months. I believe she was an Angle because no person can have that much impact like she did. This page is being developed to honor Cora. More will be coming – pictures and narrative from her best friend Elizabeth who was also her supervisor that summer in 2019. Cora and Elizabeth were best friends since birth! I see Cora as an Angel and angels are butterflies so our Prairie habitat mission makes butterflies. Cora had the vision to make Prairie Common Again.
