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Today, Irvine Park is in mouring. Catherine Daly, who would be 98 this year, died in the same house she was born in. The passing of a person who has seen so much might not seem like a surprise, but through all of her travails Catherine Daly always remained strong full of the pulse of life that defined her. She was driving until just a decade ago, about the same time she stopped her decades-long volunteering at the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home because "I realized everyone there was younger than me". Catherine Daly was born the same year Aunt Nettie Spencer, the pioneer era guardian of the Park, died. For most of her life, she saw the neighborhood degrade from opulence to apartments to flophouses. As a small girl, she saw the grain elevators built that blocked her view of the Mississippi. But she lived to be the person who swung the first blow of the wrecking ball against them, a symbolic act that says a lot about her life. For while in person she was the most gentle and gracious person you could meet, she was also firm in her beliefs her willingness to fight for the home that defined her entire life. She was there for the struggle to stop the City from tearing down all those "old wrecks" she knew as mansions from her childhood, and she was there to stop the Shepard Road overpass. But for her firmness, she lived a life of Christian charity and kindness for everyone. It was common for her to invite the homeless who knocked on her door in for some food and drink. When asked if that wasn't dangerous for an older woman like her, she replied that, "People who need help aren't dangerous!". If you need one word to describe Catherine Daly, it is this: Grace. Her memory was part of the soul of the neighborhood. Not just because she was the last resident who remembers the first fountain, sold for scrap in WWI. It is because she remembered everyone who lived here over the last century; their strenghths, their character, what made them who they are. With the passing of Catherine Daly goes the passing of the memories of the people who loved this neighborhood for so long. She will be sorely missed by all of us, because we loved her very much. Catherine Daly staked her whole life on this neighborhood, and rode the good times and the bad. All of it was just the passing of time in her long and happy and gracious life. She is a great example for us all. Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.comcast.net/~wabbitoid/ Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts http://www.harmonycedar.com _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
