My friend died yesterday. She lived a blessed life. Her goal in life was to be someone who built bridges. Bridges of love and bridges of hope. She devoted her life to children especially after her own son died. There was nothing in her demeanor to suggest her capacity for the love she had in her heart or the goodness in her soul. Ollie Harvey built bridges.

She and her husband, Philip, used their own money to start an after-school program for the children of East Stuart who needed her most. She built a bridge to my wife, Polly, and I to assist her with those children. She built bridges to many people. To Ollie, the color of a person’s skin was not what was important. What was important was the good that was in their hearts. She built bridges so that many people could help her save the children of East Stuart.

I am proud that I knew her and I am bereft now that she has gone. She taught me to open my heart and with her loss I now have examined my soul. I and many other people will carry on her dream of building bridges. I hope to continue building bridges to those children of East Stuart, to all the people of Stuart just as she would want. Just as she taught me to do.

Ollie was a devout Christian. She never doubted that the Lord had guided her on this path. My last word with her was a prayer to Jesus. Her faith gave her the will to build bridges. I admired her tenacity, her grit but most of all her love. What can be a better epitaph than Ollie Harvey, Bridge Builder.