Remembering Anna Bastian

Melrose lost one of its leading ladies this week with the passing of Anna Bastian. For much of her adult life, Anna was deeply engaged in the civic and social life of Melrose: She was a co-founder of the Melrose Family Room, Treasurer of the Melrose Alliance Against Violence, a member of the Steering Committee of the League of Women Voters, involved with Melrose Youth Soccer (together with her husband and her children), a past Girl Scout leader, and an active member of Melrose Rotary. In addition to all this, she had practiced law in Melrose since 1995.

But this list of accomplishments cannot come close to describing who Anna was to those of us who knew her well. She was a woman of great grace and integrity. With Anna, there were no gray areas. She advocated strongly for the causes she believed in, particularly for women’s rights and for justice for victims of domestic violence, and at the same time, she was a good friend who loved nothing more than a good laugh. She absolutely left Melrose a better place than she found it. We will miss her, but her legacy will live on.