EDITORIAL

Galloway was a patroness of Toledo arts scene

8/9/2017

The death of Ann Galloway, at 93, a few days ago is a reminder of Toledo’s rich cultural life and the people who once sustained it. Her loved ones can take pride in all she did for our community. A life of service is a solace.

Mrs. Galloway was active in Sister Cities International, which matches cities to each other and promotes cultural exchange and international understanding. (This city’s relationship to Toledo, Spain, our sister city, actually predates the program.)

Mrs. Galloway was a leading backer of the Toledo Opera, serving on its executive board, and as a major fund-raiser. She was also an ardent booster of the Toledo Symphony. And she served on innumerable boards in the region, from St. Vincent Medical Foundation to the Toledo Museum of Art.

She was an indefatigable patron of the arts and crusader for a better Toledo.

Mrs. Galloway, an executive secretary and then travel agent by profession, was by all accounts a charismatic dynamo. But she was all that in service to her community. If you were looking for one word to describe her it would be “patroness” — a guardian, protector, and supporter.

Great cities have three kinds of leaders: business leaders, political leaders, and leaders in the arts and humanities — persons of energy and stature who do not seek power but seek to bring the finest objects and values of human experience to us all. Toledo has been at its best when there was leadership in all three realms. Think of what Toledo would be without Edward Drummond Libbey.

Ann Galloway made Toledo a brighter place, and a better one.