'Mayor of Green Island' Lorraine Laurie gave heart and soul to Worcester neighborhood
WORCESTER ― Lorraine Laurie was a friend to many and a tireless advocate for the underdog.
Laurie, the unofficial “Mayor of Green Island,” a neighborhood she devoted much of her life to in spirit and through many acts of kindness, died March 6 after a battle with cancer. She was 73.
“She gave her heart and soul to Green Island,” said a cousin, Matthew Wright of Worcester, who noted Laurie relished the moniker of neighborhood mayor. "Someone gave her the title and she kept it. She got a kick out of it, being the unofficial mayor."
For a woman who gave a big chunk of her years to bettering the lives of Green Island residents, the irony is that Laurie didn’t live in Green Island. For most of her life she lived in a three-decker on Dorchester Street., near the intersection of Oak Hill and Union Hill.
Despite that address, no job was too big or small for Laurie for the betterment of Green Island. She cleaned up vacant lots, planted trees, advocated for affordable housing and championed numerous neighborhood causes, said Wright.
All of it done with a passion for helping those who needed a hand.
“That (Green Island) area is largely a low-income area, with limited resources and she stuck up for underdogs,” said Wright.
A graduate of Anna Maria College, Laurie’s internal battery never stopped. She walked everywhere, didn’t have a driver’s license and when she needed a ride, Worcester Police Officer Sean Lovely was often there to give one.
The rides usually meandered, with many detours, some lasting 45 minutes down various streets in Union Hill, Kelley Square and Green Island, with Laurie always scribbling in a notebook about things that needed fixing.
Those notes were ammunition for Laurie to pressure local officials to make improvements. They also served as talking points during Union Hill and Green Island neighborhood watch meetings, which Laurie led while Lovely gave crime updates.
“We talked on the phone almost daily for 20 years,” said Lovely. "Lorraine didn’t have any kids. She always checked on how my wife and kids were doing. If there were events involving my kids, Lorraine was there.”
Maureen Schwab met Lauire more than 50 years ago when they were youngsters attending the Worcester Girls Club, the precursor to Girls Inc. Years later, they reconnected through community work in Green Island.
“(Lorraine) was just somebody who cared about the Green Island neighborhood,” said Schwab. “She had a knack for organizing, a knack for bringing people together. She had a kind way about her, never confrontational, never angry, never selfish about her role. She did a lot of good for us.”
Laurie didn’t shy away from what she believed in. In November, she attended a meeting at the Green Island Neighborhood Center, when she voiced opposition to a proposed development project she believed didn’t fit the fabric of Green Island.
Laurie was in combative form, quoted in a Telegram & Gazette account, telling the developer's lawyer, “What is the neighborhood going to get out of that development? I say nothing.”
Lauire had an encyclopedic knowledge of Green Island. She could recite past people and events chapter and verse, much of it detailed in her historic account of the neighborhood, titled, "The Island That Became A Neighborhood, A History of Green Island In Massachusetts,1826-1985."
Besides organizing food drop offs at the Green Island Neighborhood Center to help families in need, especially at Thanksgiving, Laurie made sure the annual Christmas tree lighting continued in Kelley Square. It was in jeopardy when the Gulf gas station was torn down to make way for redevelopment. The tree was displayed yearly at the station and Laurie worked to secure a new spot in the square’s rotary.
Laurie was diagnosed with non-Hodgins lymphoma last summer and moved into the Village of Ascension Heights. One could say Laurie came full circle because she grew up in the former Ascension Church and helped the church's spiritual leader, the late Rev. Joseph Adamo, establish the Village of Ascension Heights as a home for senior citizens. Laurie worked as the building’s residential services coordinator for many years until her retirement in January.
Laurie's funeral was Wednesday at St. John's Church. Burial followed at Hope Cemetery.
Through all the years, Laurie relished her community work, especially in Green Island.
“She was very proud of where she was from and being the Mayor of Green Island,” said Lovely. “She will surely be missed.”
Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @henrytelegram
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Lorraine Laurie gave heart and soul to Green Island neighborhood
