TUF - The Passing of a Treasure

Lucretia Cortelyou
April 18, 2009

Last week Franklin lost a voice for good government with the passing of Lucretia Cortelyou. I meet "Lou" early in my days at TUF and we often joined forces on issues. She was always ready to tell the council where they'd gone wrong. She never backed away from a fight but always treated her adversaries with dignity. She was bright, articulate and a true friend of the ideals we think of as quintessentially American. For a short time she wrote for TUF.

On a personal note my fondest memory of her deals with our party affiliation. She was faithful Republican. When she introduced me to a Republican friend she would always add, "He is a Democrat, but a good Democrat" (her voice suggesting an irony in that concept) and then she'd laugh.

She practiced Jefferson's rule that "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." Starting last Friday (April 10, 2009) freedom has become just a little bit harder for the rest to hold onto without her. She was a good person, a good wife, a good mother and grandmother, a good friend, a good Republican and, perhaps the highest honor I can bestow on anyone, a good American.

In her memory and to commemorate her history of teaching, the Franklin Township Republican Club shall name their scholarship fund after her.

We'll miss you, Lou.

PK