In a little back alley, a giant memory lives on
Lane signs honour an amazing Grace, loved for her spirit … and knitting
After the crowd cleared and silence settled back over the small patch of back alley where the ceremony had been, a lone man walked his dog along the laneway, between Chestnut and Gibson, from Barton to Cannon.
As I passed him in his solitude he simply said to me, a stranger, “It’s nice walking along Grace’s lane.” It was a fitting coda to a lovely dedication.
It always was her lane but now there are the signs to prove it.
About 10 feet high, white letters on green in an attractive font, “Grace Campbell Ln.,” two intersecting panels, pointing in four directions because, well, in these parts Grace is everywhere.
Grace Campbell, who died Aug. 7 after a long battle with a rare liver disorder, meant so much to this neighbourhood … and beyond.
Dozens of people showed up for the unveiling of the new lane signs. Friends, volunteers, politicians, community organizers and, of course, family.
People who knew her from her great work with the Girl Guides and for autism, from her volunteering cleaning up the alleyway (she did that for almost 40 years) and, of course, from her knitting.
All of them remembered her selfless giving, her passion for and pride in the neighbourhood, how she invited young people into her house — young people who often had nowhere else to go — and taught them knitting, which she loved.
“She got them to wash their hands,” her daughter, Joy Welsh, told me at the ceremony.
It was a rule: If their hands were dirty, the wool would get dirty. But, really, it was a way to get them to wash their hands.
“I had to share Mom growing up and sometimes I was jealous,” Joy admitted. “But she gave me a whole community. She was a great lady.”
She is already commemorated with a bench in Powell Park, dedicated when she was still alive.
Grace’s son, Blair, talked about how much the laneway means. “We used to play hockey here and ride our bikes.” And his mom was always making sure it was kept clean.
“She was so loving and caring. She knit for everyone.” And she customized what she knitted for the person she was kitting for, often in clever and fun ways.
She made what she called “lovers’ mitts.” One of the mitts would have two wrists so lovers could hold hands in the mitten.
She never stopped, said Grace’s granddaughter, Julienna Welsh, 16. Right up until she died she was still collecting and ripping plastic milk bags into strips, which she would turn into a kind of plastic wool from which she made mattresses for the homeless.
Grace’s widower, Murdie (Murdoch) Campbell, was there too, of course. He is blind and deaf but still bowls and curls, walks five miles a day and makes toys for kids.
The idea for lane dedication got helped along by Brenda Duke, chair of Hamilton’s Beautiful Alleys volunteer group.
Brenda approached Ward 3 councillor Matthew Green to help facilitate the dedication.
And Saturday, it all came together, in a splendid gathering marking Grace’s inspiring spirit.
Matthew Green told the crowd, “We have to remember our Earth Angels.” Remembered she will be. On an unfortunate note, Grace’s van was apparently stolen from her and Murdie’s home the night before the dedication.
It’s a 2001 GMC Safari, licence plate ALFV 243, if anyone knows or has seen anything.