The National Ghost Ranch Foundation (NGRF) received an extraordinary gift from the estate of Vernon Pack, whose parents purchased Ghost Ranch in 1936, and gifted it to the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1955.

This generous gift is the largest ever received by Ghost Ranch, a national Education and Retreat Center of the Presbyterian Church (USA), located in the high desert of northern New Mexico, where Vernon Pack spent his boyhood years. His transformative gift will allow Ghost Ranch to address immediate infrastructure needs as well as plan for the long-term future of the ranch.

“The Pack family’s legacy is the preservation of this place of unparalleled beauty, as well as cultivating a vital connection with nature within Ghost Ranch’s guests,” said The Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, President of the NGRF board. “Vernon Pack’s gift helps us plan for a vital future for this place entrusted to us through the Pack family’s commitment to stewardship of this land. We give thanks to God for the Pack family’s vision and stalwart support across generations.”

Vernon Pack passed away in January 2025 in Ohio at the age of 99. His father, Arthur Pack, was the founder of Nature magazine, and ran the isolated 21,000 acres that comprises Ghost Ranch as a dude ranch, though it rapidly became much more than that. It soon became a favorite of many artists and intellectuals from nearby Taos and Santa Fe, as well as from the East Coast.

The most notable of those was one of the greatest artists of the 20^th century, Georgia O’Keeffe, who first visited New Mexico in 1929. When she came to Ghost Ranch a few years later, she quickly fell in love with the breathtaking landscape and became friends with the Packs. She eventually moved to Ghost Ranch, where the teenage Vernon came to know the famous artist. In 1955, when Vernon was 30 years old and had begun his teaching career, Arthur and Phoebe Pack donated Ghost Ranch to the national Presbyterian Church’s Board of Christian Education. O’Keeffe continued to live on the property and her house is still on the Ranch today, though not owned by the Presbyterian Church.

Vernon Pack crossed paths with O’Keeffe and many other notable artists and naturalists, and this was a crucial part of his education. He was homeschooled as a child at Ghost Ranch, and graduated from McCurdy High School, then a Methodist boarding school in nearby Espanola, New Mexico. He received his undergraduate education at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, near Columbus, and an M.A. in Education from Ohio State. He served for three years in the Navy during WWII. He lived in Ohio his adult life, where he taught middle school and was active in numerous civic organizations, including the Church of the Master, United Methodist, in Westerville, Ohio.

Pack cherished his upbringing among the red mesas and shining stone cliffs of Ghost Ranch. He never lost his love of the beauty of the land, and visited as recently as a few years ago. His father and grandfather were active environmentalists and philanthropists, and Vernon continued those commitments in his life, as evidenced in his estate gift to Ghost Ranch, 70 years after the original Pack gift of the Ranch to the Presbyterian Church.

The Presbyterian Church, through the Presbyterian Foundation, retains ownership of the property, while the non-profit National Ghost Ranch Foundation leases the land for $1/year and operates Ghost Ranch. The Ranch carries on the intent of the Pack gift of the land to the church in its present mission: “Ghost Ranch stewards a place of great beauty to nurture the human spirit and mind, discover the sacred, and care for creation.”

“I visited Vernon at his home in Ohio last year, and we talked at length about his childhood, his love of the Ranch, and how he wanted to leave a legacy,” said David Evans, CEO of Ghost Ranch. “It was one of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had since I arrived here two years ago. This gift will help the Ranch continue to pursue the vision of his family and the commitment of the Presbyterian Church USA to educational programs and environmental stewardship.”

Ghost Ranch is only one place that has benefitted from the incredible legacy of generosity in the Pack family. “The legacy of Pack family gifts to both local and national humanitarian and conservation causes cannot be overstated,” said Lesley Poling-Kempes, author of Ghost Ranch, and a longtime supporter and historian of the Ranch. “The Pack family gifted a significant and valuable stamp collection to fund and found the Espanola Hospital. His vision and gift created the world-famous Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson. Vernon Pack’s gift to Ghost Ranch is the continuation of his family’s century-long commitment to the health of the natural and human community.”