Amy C. Walbridge

Amy Walbridge (Ferch) was born in the gold rush area of California to parents Bert and Ernestine (Luly). With her older brother Ron and younger brother Tony, the family moved several times to cities in Ohio and Kentucky with Louisville Kentucky having a lasting impact on her. After graduating from Fremont Ross High School in Ohio, she went on to earn a degree in organizational communication from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. It was in Dayton that she met and married Matt - a love that would last 35 years. Their two sons Keith and Bryan led to many lasting friendships that enriched and strengthened their family life. 

In 1995 Amy began her career with the city of Dayton in what can be fairly termed her calling - working in neighborhood, housing, community and economic development. For the many large and impactful projects she was instrumental in making happen, she excelled at overcoming obstacles, identifying opportunities, building collaborative partnerships and, above all, establishing and nurturing relationships. She readily shared knowledge and information to help projects and the people behind them succeed. She kept the big picture in perspective and knew how to identify and connect the right people with the right information that led to many of the city’s significant redevelopment projects successfully becoming reality - all making Dayton, the city she and Matt called home, a better place.

Along with her love of architecture and design, Amy was a builder and champion of community - from neighborhood and business development projects, to organizations whose purpose is to bring people together. Building community is what drove and fulfilled her. With her love of music, no place better than Levitt Pavilion Dayton checked all the boxes for her. It was during the inaugural season that she discovered what would be a favorite band of hers - The Steel Wheels (check out favorites of hers Scrape Me Off the Ceiling and Rain in the Valley). Please consider donating to Levitt in her honor and attending concerts there with friends and family when you can. She was a Cincinnati Reds fan and especially enjoyed listening to radio (transistor, no less) broadcasts on WLW playing in the background. Another simple joy for her was her vegetable garden. She called herself a mid-western basil farmer and loved making big batches of pesto with what she grew. 

Amy sought and valued experiences over material things and was often plotting the next adventure on the trip home - she said she needed a marker to look forward to. Beaches always beckoned, but traveling with friends or traveling to visit them made her happiest. Underlying everything is that Amy was a builder of relationships, both professional and personal. Her supportive and encouraging nature resulted in her having a huge circle of friends and colleagues. She was the definition of a 'people person' who took sincere interest in getting to know the people that came into her life. Her ability to remember people’s names and their stories - even from fleeting encounters and years later, was a true gift. And if you needed to know what happened where and when, she likely knew. 

In her memory, look to establish and nurture sincere relationships and for opportunities to support an inclusive community - a community based on positivity, encouragement, support and, above all LOVE