North Center Revitalization Assoc. (NCRA)

Tribute to Virginia Lamb

Tribute to Virginia Lamb

Tribute to Virginia Lamb

Sept 9, 2003
On November 16, 2002, Mesa and the NCRA neighborhood lost one of its most remarkable neighborhood leaders, Virginia Lamb. Virginia was one of the founding members of NCRA. She made her home on the corner of Center and Inglewood Streets for over 30 years. Virginia and her husband, Buford, were proud of their home. When drug dealers, prostitutes, slumlords, thieves, gangs, and property code violators began to take over the neighborhood, Virginia and Buford fought for what they worked so hard to build. They accessed every avenue available to preserve their property value and prevent the demise of their neighborhood. After Buford passed away, Virginia fought all the harder to overcome the crime and blight that had infiltrated the North Center neighborhood. She refused to turn a blind eye by closing the curtains and pretending the serious neighborhood issues didn’t exist or by selling her home and moving elsewhere. When gunshots rang out near her home, Virginia would drop to the floor and call 9-1-1 without a second thought. On several occasions, she opened her home to Mesa Police officers to conduct stings to bust drug dealers. Virginia was the catalyst for many positive changes that happened in the neighborhood – the Mesa Police substation on E. Ingram, a meth lab bust on E. Inglewood, and the reduction of crime as a whole are just a few.

Occasionally we are fortunate to encounter a larger than life individual who has positively influenced our life and improved the quality of the community. Many of us are very blessed to say we knew Virginia Lamb. City of Mesa officials’ respect and appreciation for the feisty, persistent person of Virginia led them to bestow her with a special honor. In the words of City of Mesa council member Claudia Walters, “Because of her [Virginia’s] desire to make Mesa a better place for children, her dedication to making her own neighborhood a safer and better place to live, and the mentoring she did for other emerging neighborhood leaders, … the leadership award that is given annually at the Mesa Neighborhood Conference will now be named the Virginia M. Lamb Leadership Award.”

God-speed, Virginia. We miss you dearly and will never forget you.


In Honor of

VIRGINIA LAMB

A Teacher
A premiere leader with a generous spirit
An ordinary yet dynamic citizen who
Acted with courage and conviction
Without regard for personal safety
or comfort.
Because of her dedication to fight for
What Is Right
She mobilized an entire community
To save a neighborhood.
Her memory inspires us
to continue her mission.




-By Kathy Gohl ,