The
Remembrance Society
By Jenny Gilbert , Director of Institutional Advancement
After raising a family in New Hampshire and having a successful career in nursing and then computing , Ginny Brady and her husband Bill Mann moved back to Cambridge in 2004 to be close to the city . They were taking full advantage of the musical , cultural , and culinary riches of Boston , but they had never visited Mount Auburn Cemetery . Then in 2006 , they attended the Cemetery ’ s 175th Anniversary Lecture Series at the Boston Public Library . The series introduced them to the Cemetery and changed the course of Ginny ’ s retirement .
Ginny joined Mount Auburn ’ s first class of volunteers in 2007 . Since then , she has supported the Friends in many ways : doing paperwork and data entry , staffing the Visitor Center , developing a range of tours ( Celtic Crosses , Tribute Monuments , Civil War , and Not So Rich and Famous ), and contributing to Women ’ s History Month programs . Ginny loves the process of researching individuals ’ lives and visiting their monuments . “ Just being a volunteer there ,” she says ,“ you really [ come to ] appreciate [ not only ] the historic individuals who are buried there , but also their interactions . It ’ s almost like ‘ Six Degrees of Separation ’ with so many entities that knew each other and know each other , even to this day .”
Ginny has had numerous memorable interactions with visitors during her years at Mount Auburn . One time she met a couple of descendants of the great navigator Nathanial Bowditch who were visiting from Salem ,
Massachusetts .“ There are still Bowditches around !” says Ginny . Another time a young woman came to visit the grave of her grandmother Sarah Jordan Murray , a physician to President John F . Kennedy , whom Brady had researched for her Women in Medicine tour . Ginny loves to share her infectious enthusiasm for the beauty of Mount Auburn , for its trees and birds , and for its welcoming staff . She feels proudest when visitors are impressed with the site and tell her they want to visit again .
Ginny and her husband have purchased burial space at the Cemetery for themselves on Mist Path . And to help secure the Cemetery ’ s green future , the couple has generously included a bequest to support horticulture at Mount Auburn in their estate plans . Asked why they support Mount Auburn and decided to include a bequest to the Friends in their will , Bill observed ,“ It ’ s a beautiful place , and it ’ s well-run . The staff are all outstanding , from the gardeners to the management .” Like all who provide for the future financial stability of the Friends of Mount Auburn , Ginny and Bill ( photographed here at our annual Wine Tasting event ) are now part of our Remembrance Society .
For more information on planned giving , or to advise the cemetery of your intentions , please contact Jenny Gilbert , Director of Institutional Advancement , at ( 617 ) 607-1970 for a confidential conversation to discuss your goals , or visit us on the web for more information .
2017 Volume 1 | 21