FARMINGTON – A woman remembered as an activist, civic leader, matriarch and friend now has a bench in her memory in a place she loved, Walton’s Mill Pond Park in West Farmington.

Town employees, board members, family and friends gathered Wednesday at the park for a brief ceremony to dedicate the Mary Wright Memorial Bench, placed on a granite slab from her home doorstep.

From the bench one can look over the dam, across the water and just about see her house, Town Manager Richard Davis said.

Wright, a former selectman and board chairman in Farmington, died last year but left a legacy as noted by the words on the bench: “activist, civic leader, matriarch and friend.”

She had a love of her neighborhood and her town.

“I can see why Mary felt peaceful and tranquil here,” board Chairman Stephan Bunker said as he glanced around the park with the roar of water falling over the dam behind him.

“Mom felt calmed by water and when the dam near her home was threatened, she led a group to save it,” said her son, James Wright.

“She would have been embarrassed but proud of this attention paid to her,” he said.