Remembering Civility Advocate Denise Bacon 

On Saturday, November 5 about 200 Newberg area residents gathered in the high school gym to remember longtime civic leader and civility-promoter Denise Bacon. 

At her death, Denise represented the south side of Newberg on the city council, a seat she held for several years. She was also a key figure in dozens of local initiatives, plus many more around Oregon. 

I got to know Denise over the last two years. When she heard about the Civility Project she immediately offered to help.  After all, she had a similar project already in the works, which she called "Nurture Newberg."  Her goal was to help undo our community's polarization by emphasizing its positive aspects. Some months ago she did a survey of Newberg residents and came up with the cloud you can see below 

You can learn more about Nurture Newberg here.

When the United as Neighbors group decided to have a booth at the Old Fashioned Festival, Denise came through with lots of help. And she was an enthusiastic participant in developing the Newberg/Dundee Area Civility Pledge.  My last note from her came on September 27, insisting that the Pledge use "common" words so everyone could understand it.  

Two days later she was in the hospital, going into intensive care. My last message to her was a happy birthday wish on October 20. She died the next day.

Here are some of the ways people described Denise since her passing:

* "Generous with her time...and KINDNESS. She listened generously to understand others."

* "the epitomy of "Radical Generosity" 

* "kind, compassionate, caring, humble intelligent, and selfless... beloved and admired by everyone who knew her"

* "we didn’t always agree but she always listened...fair and kind even in disagreement."

* "A lesson in these divided times. You listen. You are respectful. You are determined."

* "unique ability to unify people from all backgrounds and beliefs... (she) could disagree with you strongly and love you all the same."

* "Denise was the most unifying factor that I know of in this strongly divided community."

Denise embodied the kind of active, relentless civility we are trying to promote.  She was a one-woman Newberg civility project long before there was a George Fox Civility Project. Now that we've lost her, our work is even more urgent.