You Might Not Know their Names By Jack Coll

You Might Not Know Their Names

But You Know Their Story

By Jack Coll

December 12, 2016

I finally managed to get a few minutes and spent some time sorting out a pile of papers on my office desk. I picked thru this, filed a little bit of that, and in the midst of reducing this pile of papers I came across a couple of obituaries posted in the Philadelphia Inquirer that had Conshohocken ties but not so recognizable names to the locals.

In a paper dated November 24, 2016, I spotted the name of Winnie Atterbury, Winnie who lived in Newtown Square for 40 years was a freelance writer. I first met Winnie back in the fall of 1991 when she visited the borough and was directed to see me. She wanted to write a story on the borough of Conshohocken for a “Home Design” special edition for “Philadelphia Magazine.”

We instantly bonded, she was looking to write an article highlighting both Conshohocken and West Conshohocken, and I was interested in helping her write a very positive article on the boroughs because over the years the press wasn’t exactly kind to the borough.

Coming out of the 1970’s and 1980’s Conshohocken and West Conshohocken didn’t have much going for them. The 1970’s brought crime to both boroughs and the 1980’s brought blight. We were also fighting a black-eye from the left over industry along the river and the polluted soil all the industries left behind when they left town.

Residents were fed-up and out of patience with the words “Urban Redevelopment.” All we had by the mid 1980’s was 25 acres of vacant real estate in the lower end of the borough and a broken-down bridge.

Winnie came into town looking to write a positive article, one or two office buildings had been constructed at that time and One Tower Bridge was under construction. I felt that a positive article in Philadelphia Magazine would go a long way at that time, finally getting a positive spotlight on our community from readers throughout the Philadelphia region.

Winnie wrote a splendid piece titled “No Knockin Conshohocken.” that appeared in the October edition of the magazine in 1991.

I always felt Winnie’s article brought a little bit of respect region-wide to Conshohocken with her kind and upbeat words and made other areas stand-up and take notice to all the positive things happening in both Conshohocken’s.

I kept in contact with Winnie for a couple of years after the article, she would bounce different ideas off me and I would do the same.

She was very kind, and I often thanked her for the article, may she rest in peace.

The second obit of note was that of Ann Bennett Garthwaite posted in the Inquirer on November 27, 2016. Annie, as she was known, died from complications of a stroke, she was 94 years old.

Annie was married to Albert A. Garthwaite Jr. for more than 57 years. Albert’s father Albert A. Garthwaite Sr. had married John Elwood Lee’s daughter more than a century ago and took over as president of the Lee Tire and Rubber Company when Lee died in the spring of 1914.

Garthwaite Jr. was a race-car enthusiast who competed all over the country on tracks like Watkins Glenn and Bridgehampton.

While Annie accomplished a lot in her life she should be remembered as a very giving person. She was a philanthropist and many of those kind donations came back to this borough through way of the Elsie Lee Garthwaite Foundation.

While neither Winnie nor Annie lived in this borough I thought it would be nice to point out their contributions to our community. A lot of things have made Conshohocken, as a borough very successful over the years, it was contributions like theirs that added to our success.

May they rest in peace.