(above) Betty Crawley, Jean Kreiling, Dr. H. Roy Partridge, the son of Dr. Wolfe and Pat Pavlak. Betty Crawley was a friend of Dr. Wolfe. Jean Kreiling and Pat Pavlak are trustees of the Cranford Historical Society.
Dr. Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe Library and Learning Commons
Submitted by Jean Kreiling, Cranford Historical Society
(above) Dr. Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe
On February 6, 2020 to the joyful strains of music played by the Cranford High School Jazz Group, visitors streamed into the newly named Dr. Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe Library and Learning Commons. They had come to celebrate the life of a remarkable Cranford woman who though she had been honored by many others had been overlooked by her hometown.
After a warm welcome by Principal Mark Cantagallo, Dr. Scott Rubin the Superintendent of Schools described how a year and a half earlier he had discovered Dr. Wolfe. “We want to tell you about the most famous person you never heard of,” his visitors Pat Pavlak, Jean Kreiling and Betty Crawley had announced. To illustrate their meaning, they unfolded a trifold that told the story of an amazing educator named Dr. Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe.
RELATED ARTICLE: Cranford Remembers the Exceptional Life of Dr. Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe
(above) Student speakers Paige Carbone, Cameron Matheson and Jaden Johnson-Feggans gave wonderful talks about Dr. Wolfe’s life and how it had inspired them. Other speakers included Ms. Myrtle Counts, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP and Reverend Alfred Brown, Jr. who gave personal remembrances.
(above) Two of Dr. Wolfe’s grandchildren, Dr. Damani Partridge and Juliana Truesdale (pictured) spoke movingly about “nana” and recalled how she had influenced their lives. At the end of her speech, Juliana Truesdale said, “In my nana’s honor, I ask you – what is your dream? What is the legacy you will leave? What do you believe in with such conviction that it does not matter if not one person in the room looks or thinks or acts like you? What challenges will you accept? What ways will you make out of no way?
(above) Principal Mark Cantagallo thanked everyone who had made the event a success including the Cranford Historical Society for giving the library a plaque to commemorate the renaming of the library.
