‘She just worked so hard’
Albion honors Vera Simpson with new street designation
By Maggie LaNoue, Contributing Writer, September 25, 2026
Cars lined both sides of Jefferson Street on a sunny Friday before the Festival of the Forks as family members, friends, city officials, pastors and others who worked alongside Vera Simpson gathered to dedicate three signs honoring a woman whose vision helped transform part of the neighborhood.
The Sept. 18 dedication of Vera Simpson Way came almost exactly a month after Simpson died Aug. 19 at age 94. Albion City Council had approved the honorary designation July 6, while Simpson was still living.
Council Member Lenn Reid, who helped organize the dedication, welcomed those attending near Austin Avenue and introduced speakers as those who were able walked from sign to sign.
Rather than unveil a single sign, the dedication moved along Jefferson Street, stopping three times for stories and prayers that traced some of the work Simpson left behind.
The first stop, near Austin Avenue and the former Vision of Life Community Center, focused on how that work began. Pastor Stephen Williams offered the first prayer.
Gwen Tabb recalled working with Simpson at Crowell and Caldwell schools and helping her pursue a new purpose after retirement. Tabb helped write grants, and the work grew to include teachers and Albion College students, book clubs and reading, sewing, gardening and other practical life skills.
“Faith brought forth the Vision of Life,” Tabb said, describing a place that brought older and younger people together to share life skills.
Simpson founded Vision of Life Community Center, which operated at 718 Austin Ave. A 2018 Albion College Pleiad story documented the center’s work.
Trish Franzen, who worked with Simpson in the community garden, recalled a woman more interested in serving than receiving recognition. Simpson did not simply envision what could happen on the property, Franzen said. She did the work herself.
Tabb told council in July just how literal that could be.
“All of the land on Jefferson Street, on the left side of the street, belongs to Vision of Life, and Vera was out there with her sister, chopping trees until we could get it done,” Tabb said.
Tabb said the work led to a partnership with the Albion Community Garden and the distribution of thousands of pounds of fresh food and vegetables.
The dedication continued to the second sign, at the entrance to the community garden. Reid introduced Pastor McKenzie, whose prayer drew upon the setting, speaking of planting seeds, watering plants and the increase that follows.
Franzen said many people helped make the project possible, but Simpson led them into it. She planted and worked beside the other gardeners, Franzen said, describing it as a special experience to work alongside her.
The garden now grows more than a ton of produce during the summer and gives it away free, according to Franzen.
Franzen said much the same at the July council meeting.
“When the community garden started, and when Vision of Life started … if she saw me at the garden, she would stop, and once she was at the garden, I always knew I couldn’t leave until she left,” Franzen said. “She just worked so hard.”
The final gathering took place at the north end of the honorary street designation, near West Broadwell Street and the Albion Housing Commission.
Reid observed that Simpson’s life had ended, but her work had not. Pastor Amos offered the third prayer, asking that Simpson’s vision continue.
Mayor Victoria Snyder spoke about Simpson’s willingness to begin even without everything she needed.
“So many people say, ‘I don’t have the resources,’” Snyder said. “She didn’t wait. She got started.”
Snyder also spoke of Simpson treating people throughout Albion as family and of others carrying her vision forward.
City Manager Dr. Sheryl L. Theriot said she met Simpson about 10 years ago and heard her life story. Looking down Jefferson Street at the cars that filled the neighborhood for the dedication, Theriot said Simpson’s influence could still be seen in the turnout and in the resilience of Vision of Life.
Ruth Ann Holmes, representing There’s Enough, which now operates in the former Vision of Life building, said it was an honor to be included in the dedication and that she was deeply touched by the opportunity to give back to others.
The honorary designation does not change Jefferson Street’s legal name or residents’ addresses. Council approved Resolution 2026-37 after five people spoke in support. Andrew French made the motion, C.J. Frost seconded it, and all six council members present voted yes.
One of those speakers, Albion Community Garden co-founder and president Richard Porter, told council in July, “I truly believe she’s probably the only person I’ve ever met who is a saint.”
As the Sept. 18 gathering ended, Council Member Vivian Davis walked back toward Austin Avenue to get a flier from her car for the Oct. 24 Freedom Fund banquet. Talking about Simpson, Davis called her “a role model for the community.”
Davis said Simpson provided leadership through the schools, her family and church. She described Simpson as a quiet leader who commanded respect and encouraged her children and grandchildren.
