A small group of women and men gathered in the Nunnawauk Meadows Community Building on March 7 to join a Human Rights Celebration hosted by the local Church Women United unit.

While small in number, those in attendance appeared to enjoy celebrating the afternoon’s theme, “Journey Toward Peace.” They also honored the late Jeanette Mayer, who had been invited to keynote on Saturday afternoon but died unexpectedly eight days earlier.

In place of Mrs Mayer, Elizabeth Ricci spoke about her friend and longtime CWU member.

CWU’s Human Rights Celebrations recognize “those who go the extra mile in defending the rights and freedoms of individuals,” according to notes in the afternoon’s bulletin.

“Jeanette was a peacemaker,” Mrs Ricci said. “She knew how to put love into her actions and words.

“As long as I have known her, she had been steadfast in faith,” continued Mrs Ricci, who befriended Mrs Mayer more than three decades ago. “When she moved into The Village at Brookfield Common, she took her positive attitude with her.”

Mrs Ricci shared stories about Mrs Mayer reaching across generations to gently solve problems, such as the time she helped a parent of a church nursery school child solve a problem.

“The parent was concerned about her boy not going to the bathroom,” said Mrs Ricci. “Her intuitiveness helped Jeanette realize the problem: He had to learn how to zip up his pants.

“Once she showed this 4-year-old the procedure of zipping up his pants, problem solved,” she finished, drawing laughter from the audience.

Mrs Mayer also saw the importance of equal rights for women, said Mrs Ricci. She once challenged the idea that only men were on the council of her church. She was soon invited to join the council, said Mrs Ricci.

Darlene Jackson, the president of CWU/Newtown-Danbury, said that Mrs Mayer had been selected to be honored on Saturday in part because “all of her life she was very concerned with human rights.”

An element of each CWU celebration, Saturday’s offering for Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC) was especially poignant. FLC was a mission Mrs Mayer had become very passionate about in recent years. When the Danbury and Newtown units of CWU merged a few years ago, Mrs Mayer became the new unit’s FLC representative.

FLC is an international ecumenical movement of prayer for justice, peace, and reconciliation in the world. People are asked to say a prayer while setting aside the “least coin” of their country; American prayers are complemented by pennies. Prayers offered and the least coins collected then support projects for women and children around the world. Annually, about 35–50 projects are given FLC grants. FLC is administered by The International Committee for the FLC.

Each church with a Key Woman (representative) in the CWU/Newtown-Danbury unit has an FLC collection can so that any member of those churches can also participate in the FLC mission.

“When she first went into assisted living, Jeanette began picking up pennies from the floor, everywhere she went,” said Mrs Ricci. Fellow residents quickly noticed, and began asking about this practice.

“She would tell them, ‘This is important,’ and she would share the history of FLC, and the success of the program,” said Mrs Ricci.

Mrs Jackson then told the attendees that Mrs Mayer would often show up for CWU unit meetings loaded down “with bags and bags of her pennies.

“Everywhere she went, she picked up the coins,” said Mrs Jackson. “She was very serious about FLC.”

Those in attendance were then invited to share their least coins, taking time to quietly say a prayer before dropping their pennies, one at a time, into small paper containers that had been placed on each table. At the end of the event, according to CWU/Newtown-Danbury Treasurer Peg Forbell, about $4 had been collected for FLC.

Mrs Jackson stepped to the podium then, to speak for a few more minutes about Mrs Mayer and to show off the CWU Human Rights Award that was to have been presented to Mrs Mayer on Saturday. It will now be presented, she said, during a celebration of Mrs Mayer’s life that is being planned for April 11 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Brookfield, where Mrs Mayer was a member.

The celebration then concluded with all attendees singing “Let There Be Peace On Earth,” followed by a closing prayer led by CWU/Newtown-Danbury member Barb Gates. Also participating in Saturday’s celebration were Mrs Forbell, Peg Garrity, the Reverend Sue Klein, Linda Manganaro, and the Reverend Leo McIlrath.

(This story has been updated to reflect the correct date of the CWU celebration, as well as the reference to the date of Jeanette Mayer’s death.)