Who was Charlotte Spinney and How Can You Help Her Mission?
Charlotte Spinney dedicated her career to teaching at Westborough High School, where she made an outsized impact on the lives of countless students and teachers. She retired in 1999 and remained an integral part of the community, running the Charlotte Spinney Vision Scholars program to help students see how they could succeed and then in turn give back to the community she held so dear.
As co-founder of the Charlotte Spinney Vision Scholarship, Charlotte was very active in her Westborough community. She served on various community boards including Habitat for Humanity, Westborough Rotary, United Way, Westborough Library Trustees, and the YWCA. For many years she was a Corporator, Trustee and Director of Westborough Savings Bank later the Avidia Bank. She was also a charter member of the Mewhinney Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
Charlotte was truly a Westborough Institution and mentor to so many throughout her long tenure as an educator. Ms. Spinney was a woman who touched and guided so many lives with compassion and grace. I didn’t have the honor of sitting in one of her classes as a student, but during the brief time that I had the pleasure of her company, so much was learned. I was introduced to Charlotte at one of her favorite haunts, Central House, Taco Tuesday, and our friendship began over tacos and an adult beverage. Charlotte was a retired teacher but continued advocating for students by working passionately for the Charlotte Spinney Vision Scholarship. A woman whose name was mentioned to be the recent Fox News Westborough Zip Trip Home Town Hero, Charlotte graciously declined, as the lime light was not what she was about… Helping, educating and supporting those she loved, which included the Town of Westborough and beyond our borders. I believe that Charlotte is smiling down on all of us at this very moment holding a frosty Sam Adams adult beverage and with a wink and a nod telling us to carry on in her memory. Carry on we will Westborough with heavy hearts, as we remember and mourn the loss of such a very special person. Miss. Charlotte Spinney’s vision and legacy will live on as we continue with her mission of caring, educating and supporting all those in Westborough and beyond our borders.
Sincerely – Jeffrey A. Lourie, Chief of Police
