Thank you, Councilor Kretovic, of reminding us that Grace Walker was the first person of color to serve on the city council. Serving with Grace on the council I had the pleasure of knowing her well. She was an incredibly talented intelligent, intuitive woman, mother, wife and public servant. Although I must admit, it never occurred to me that she was a woman of color, she was just Grace to me.
Many a time she would greet me by asking, “Hey Washburn, what do you think of this or that.” And, we would proceed to have a conversation on the pros and cons of a proposal. Often, after a council meeting, four of us, Dave Coeyman, Larry Sullivan, Grace and myself would decompress at Friendly’s over a cup of coffee discussing what had happened and what was next to come. Grace and her husband Donald and family lived in a modest home on Oak Hill Road. She never lost sight of the fact that the greatest responsibility the council had was the prudent expenditure of other people’s money. She was a trendsetter then which we could use more of now.
Robert C. Washburn
Concord