Photo courtesy of Bob/Jorja Feldman
If you have ever walked in Gallup Park, you’ve experienced the animal sculptures. Maybe you have seen a toddler sprawled on the large painted turtle, or noticed a chunky blue scarf tied around the neck of the giant Canada goose. Perhaps you’ve come upon the slightly menacing green frog, the black and yellow salamander, or the plump, complacent toothy muskrat.
There are other animal figures in the park, but these are there due to the foresight and generosity of one person: Irene Fast, who loved this leafy, serene park and added the sculptures for children and adults to discover and delight in.
Related: Gallup Park’s Zoo
Irene was a clinical psychologist, U-M professor, and renowned expert in gender studies. She also loved dogs, and after retiring, walked in Gallup Park daily with her cairn terrier Charlie. After Charlie died, Irene still came to walk alone. One day, a man rode by her on a bicycle, and without stopping said, “Time to get a new dog!”
Irene had no idea who he was and found this odd, considering it had been over a year since he could have seen her walking Charlie. Then she passed by an older couple with their dogs, two shih tzus. Irene stopped to admire them and they all started chatting amiably. By the end of the conversation, the couple shared that one of their dogs was pregnant, and suggested Irene might like a puppy from the litter.
Irene was excited, but definitely caught off guard. She didn’t carry a cell phone, so she memorized their email. Much communication ensued, and a few months later the shih tzu gave birth to just one puppy.
This dog became Irene’s beloved Turkle, named by her for the famous writer Studs Terkel. Irene and the couple got together regularly with their dogs. She had Turkle for many happy years; when she grew too frail to care for him, her handyman and his family took Turkle into their own home.
Photo courtesy of Sue Miller
When Irene died in the summer of 2019, a memorial service was planned in Ann Arbor. Irene was from Canada and her favorite niece Sylvia drove in from Toronto to take care of the details.
In addition to the animal sculptures, Irene had donated a spacious, lovely pavilion at Gallup Park facing the river. Sylvia had never been to the park and wanted to see it. She decided to first stop for a sandwich at Zingerman’s, another favorite of Irene’s, and drive to the park to eat under the pavilion.
Her trip did not go smoothly. It was a very hot day, and while she was waiting at Zingerman’s her cellphone overheated in her car. The GPS stopped working, and it took her much longer than planned to find the park and the pavilion.
Nearby, she found the rock plaque with Irene’s name listed as donor and started taking a photo. Some women leaving the area stopped to ask why she was doing that. She explained that Irene had been her aunt. These women then told an astonished Sylvia that they had just finished singing for Irene under the pavilion.
They were members of the Threshold Singers, an Ann Arbor group that sings for people as they are dying. Once a year they hold a practice at this pavilion because they love the sound and the peaceful river view. That day, they saw the plaque, remembered reading Irene’s recent obituary, and had decided to sing for her.
This was the only day they were singing at Gallup Park that year and the only day Sylvia, running quite late, had ever been to Gallup Park. Irene once again seemed to be present in this soothing natural setting.
The women sang again, this time for Sylvia, and she asked if they would sing at Irene’s upcoming service. A few months later I heard them sing in a deeply moving and spiritual way for Irene. The service was inside but we all could have been in Gallup Park.