Generosity keeps donor's name alive

The beginning of an era as the new Columbia County library opens will mean the end of another when the Warren C. Gibbs Memorial Library closes.

County officials currently are debating several scenarios for the Evans building's future, including selling the valuable property or moving other county operations into it.

Sadly, one person vital to the creation of the Gibbs Library won't be around to see the transition: Eleanor Watkins Duffie.

Mrs. Duffie passed away Dec. 2 after an extended illness. She was an early driving force behind the construction of the Gibbs Library, urging fellow residents to raise the funds and build the facility.

Mrs. Duffie and her husband, Hubert Duffie, took the effort a giant step further: They donated the land for what would become the county's main library. Thus, the facility is named in honor of Mrs. Duffie's stepfather.

Mrs. Duffie had a great many other accomplishments in her long life, but the memory of her civic-minded contribution that created the library will live long after the Gibbs Library closes.