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GREENFIELD — Ann Hamilton, the woman whose decades of contributions to Franklin County earned her the Greenfield Recorder’s Citizen of the Year award in 2016, died on Monday morning, 10 days shy of her 83rd birthday.
Hamilton, who served 32 years as Franklin County Chamber of Commerce executive director and was Greenfield’s first female Selectboard member, died peacefully following a seven-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. News of her death moved quickly through the region, and friends and colleagues lauded her commitment to bringing tourism to Franklin County as an economic driver.
Douglas Clarke, who knew Hamilton through their shared affiliation with Greenfield’s Second Congregational Church, said his friend was instrumental in saving and redeveloping the Millers Falls Tool Co. building on Wells Street and the former Weldon Hotel, which is now a senior living facility, on High Street. Clarke, who lives in Greenfield, mentioned Hamilton was an important member of the Green River Cemetery’s board of directors and was the primary mover behind getting the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin into the building on the Wisdom Way property.
“She was a master at making connections, putting the right people in touch with the right people,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “A phrase you would hear her say many times is, ‘You know who you really should talk to?’”
Clarke, who joined his wife, Amy, in nominating Hamilton for the Citizen of the Year award, said they saw their friend at her home a couple weeks ago. Clarke said Hamilton was confined to her bed and had difficulty speaking but was as sharp as ever.
“And I can’t think of a more courageous way of coping with such a horrible affliction,” Clarke said. “Just a marvelous example of strength and courage, especially from the standpoint of not letting her frustrations show, and her frustrations must have been immense.”
Visiting hours will be Saturday, Jan. 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Smith-Kelleher Funeral Home, 87 Franklin St. in Greenfield. A celebration of life is planned for 2 p.m. at the Second Congregational Church, 16 Court Square in Greenfield, on Saturday, Feb. 11. As a volunteer for the church’s capital campaign in 2015, Hamilton helped raise $300,000 for its heating system and steeple.
Hamilton, a native of Newton, was raised in Keene, New Hampshire. She moved from Boston to Deerfield and then to Greenfield with her husband, Robert — a Greenfield native — who returned to run his family’s Main Street shoe store, according to Hamilton’s obituary. Robert predeceased her in 2006.
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Sandy Thomas, of Greenfield, recalled that she met Hamilton shortly after moving to town 40 years ago and got to know her by volunteering for the Greenfield Business Association.
“She was just enthusiastic about this area. She loved it deeply and she shared that with anyone who knew her,” Thomas said. “I think everyone knew Ann Hamilton. She was worth knowing.”
Thomas said her friend was a constant cheerleader for her adopted home.
“She was just a ball of fire,” Thomas said. “She really was a great gal.”
As leader of the Chamber of Commerce, a job she took in 1983, Hamilton created events like CiderDays, Fiber Fest and the Green River Festival, which she launched in 1986 as the Upcountry Balloon Fair after fielding questions about the former Cummington Balloon Fair.
“She was so good at bringing people together,” said Lisa Davol, the chamber’s marketing manager. “She persevered, she never complained. No matter the hardships, she just soldiered on. She was just incredible.”
Davol was working at RiverCulture in Turners Falls in 2005 when she met Hamilton. She explained Hamilton served on RiverCulture’s steering committee as a chamber representative and Davol grew to appreciate the chamber so much she decided to work for it after leaving RiverCulture.
“She was really responsible for putting Franklin County on the map, tourism-wise,” Davol said. “We’ve learned so much from her that we have a good foundation to move forward.”
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.
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