Dear Gerry,
For years, your words found their way into our homes and our hearts. Through newsletters, community meetings, and conversations on sidewalks and front porches, you reminded us again and again what it means to love a neighborhood and to care for the city we share. Today, this letter is our chance to speak back to you with the gratitude you so deeply deserve.
Thank you.
Thank you for the life you lived and for the way you lived it.
Your strong New England roots shaped your deep sense of civic responsibility. But somewhere along the way Cincinnati became yours, and you became one of its greatest champions.
And North Avondale became your love letter to the world.
You saw something special in this neighborhood long before many others did. Where some people saw streets and houses, you saw community. You saw possibility. You saw neighbors who could build something beautiful together if someone helped keep them connected.
That someone was you.
Through your work with the North Avondale Neighborhood Association, you became the thread that held so much together. Your newsletters were never just updates. They were invitations to care about our neighborhood, to protect its beauty, to celebrate its diversity, and to make sure every voice mattered.
You believed in equity and inclusion long before those words became common language. For you they were never slogans. They were values worth standing up for.
And stand up you did.
Your activism and unwavering commitment to the well being of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods pushed this city to be better, not because it was easy, but because it was right.
At seventy three you ran for City Council. That says everything about who you were. You understood that leadership is not about titles. It is about showing up.
And you always showed up.
The City of Cincinnati honored you with a Key to the City, but the truth is you already held the real keys. The keys to people’s hearts and to the civic spirit that turns strangers into neighbors.
You also built a beautiful life with Marvin. Forty seven years of marriage, three sons who carry forward your values, and seven grandchildren who are part of the legacy you leave behind. Through your family and your faith, you modeled a life rooted in service and love.
You believed in the dream Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared with the world, that one day people would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. You spent your life helping Cincinnati move closer to that dream.
Every Thanksgiving you shared a quote from President John F. Kennedy that feels especially meaningful now.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
Gerry, you did not just share those words.
You lived them.
Your life showed us what persistence, courage, and love for community truly look like. You chose to build, protect, and nurture the place you called home.
North Avondale is better because you lived here.
Cincinnati is better because you fought for it.
And all of us are better because we had the privilege of knowing you.
You taught us that citizenship is not passive.
It is an act of love.
And for that, Gerry, we thank you.
With gratitude, admiration, and deep respect,
All of your North Avondale Neighbors