When I walked into the church Wednesday morning for Imelda Gorman’s funeral, the first person I met seemed to read my mind.
Funeral director Frank Giles described how Imelda was among a core group of elder Catholics in Hopkinsville who could always be counted upon to be present and pay their respects when a fellow parishioner of Saints Peter and Paul died. Frank felt like Imelda’s passing marked the end of an era in Hopkinsville.
I knew exactly what Frank meant.
Imelda’s willingness to show up was the quality that I most admired in her. Over and over, she was present for her friends and for her community in small everyday moments and in big milestone events. Well into her 90s, Imelda kept showing up.
I’m just one among hundreds of people in Hopkinsville who felt Imelda’s steadfast support.
There are countless examples. Here’s one from my perspective:
Several years ago, I learned that my mother had given Imelda a recipe for roasted pecans and that Imelda then made the pecans every year for her family during the holidays. When she told me this, I said I wasn’t sure I could remember the pecans or how Mom made them. A day later, Imelda delivered a tin of those pecans along with the recipe to my office. My mother died young, and I miss her more than I can describe. Imelda did more than deliver a tin of pecans to my office. And she knew why it mattered.
I’ve been reminiscing about Imelda with one of her best friends, Joy Tilley, who taught English at University Heights Academy when Imelda was the school’s director of admissions and development.
Every time there was a show at the Alhambra, Joy knew that Imelda would want to go and that she would drive them to the theater. She was especially supportive of Campanile, the community theater group, and of Brooke Bailey’s dance students.
Joy wasn’t exaggerating when she told me that Imelda was “heroic.” There is no other way to describe how Imelda built a new life for herself when her marriage ended in her 50s. As the mother of eight children, she had been working at home most of her life when she suddenly faced financial challenges she never could have anticipated. An offer to work for UHA led to a job lasting more than 30 years. Even in retirement, she continued to attend school functions.
Not long after she moved to Hopkinsville in 1975, Imelda and several of her children got involved with the Pennyrile Players, another community theater group. They still talk about a production of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” in which Imelda played Golde, wife of the lead male character Tevye.
Today, the choice to cast Imelda as Golde seems prescient. Golde was pragmatic and resilient. Having a smart wit and dry sense of humor, she coped with life’s hardships with an enduring love for her family.
As her daughter Anne told me, Imelda was “Always Golde.”
Imelda made many of us feel like we were part of her family. She left us with an important lesson. It’s simple. Show up.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
