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07/07/2015 08:30 AMAlthough Enid Jobson wasn’t an Essex native, she spent more than four decades in the community, and she adopted the place as her own, especially the local library. She was an avid reader and library volunteer, always willing to lend a hand.
When the library was in the midst of creating a strategic plan to open up the grounds to offer outside wi-fi use, Jobson’s legacy of volunteering led to the idea of incorporating a garden/reading area constructed in her memory, thus the Enid Jobson Memorial Reading Garden was born.
“We reached out to her family to see if they would be interested and everyone agreed it was a wonderful way to memorialize Enid,” said Essex Library Director David Conroy.
The memorial reading garden was created at the former entrance of the library, on West Avenue. Serving as a outdoor refuge, this place now serves as a living memory of a woman who spent many volunteer hours at the library, as well as free time thumbing through the pages of the New York Times and other favorite reads.
“Two of my grandmother’s greatest passions were the library and gardening so this is a perfect way to honor her,” said Jobson’s granddaughter Erin Rechler at a garden dedication ceremony held on June 26, almost two years after Jobson passed.
The garden features crushed white stone, weather resistant benches and chairs, and some of Jobson’s favorite flowers such as fairy roses and white azaleas, as well as fountain grass and flowering trees.
Jobson is warmly remembered by the library staff for her great character as well as her affectionate greeting of “Hello cookie!” Her son Brian Jobson reminded everyone at the ceremony that she had a very colorful life.
“She made it to 90 and was still terrorizing the town,” he smiled. “She was a wonderful woman, who loved the library. She grew up hunting and fishing and being outdoors [in Wisconsin] and it fits perfectly that this new space is in honor of her. Thank you, she would have loved it.”
He added, “Essex is the place she put down the deepest roots in life and we are all glad she will be remembered so fondly.”
“Everything turned out wonderfully,” said Claire Mathews, president of the Essex Library Board of Trustees. “The scale [of the reading garden] feels right, the colors are perfect, and the plantings are beautiful. I know Enid would be very pleased.”
Future plans are to include a commemorative plaque to adorn the picturesque space and remind visitors of Jobson’s passion and dedication to the Library and to Essex.
“This is a great example of how a great community honors its own,” said Conroy. “We are very grateful to Enid’s family for this amazing gift.”