Candace Jenkins

Candace Jenkins, architectural historian and historic preservation consultant, and for 22 years a friend of Bill W., died suddenly at her home in Belmont on Thursday, April 29, 2010. She was 59 years old. Ms. Jenkins leaves her beloved husband, Ted Gartland, her father, Richard Jenkins of Yarmouthport, her dog, Maggie, and many, many friends. She was predeceased by her mother, Doris (Emery) Jenkins. Ms. Jenkins was born in Brockton, graduated from high school in Duxbury, and was a graduate of Smith College. She held an M.A. in preservation studies from Boston University, receiving one of the first degrees conferred. Ms. Jenkins began her career at the Massachusetts Historical Commission, where she briefly managed grants, but quickly moved on to directing the National Register of Historic Places program for Massachusetts and working on a wide variety of preservation efforts statewide. She left the Massachusetts Historical Commission in 1984 to become a private preservation consultant. Her work as a consultant covered almost every aspect of architectural history and historic preservation in Massachusetts, but focused on several major areas, including the history and reuse of state hospital complexes and preservation master planning for, among others, the Charles River Basin, the Worcester public schools, the Watertown Arsenal, and McLean Hospital. In addition, Ms. Jenkins researched and wrote historic structures reports for numerous landmark public and private buildings, including U.S. customs houses and post offices from Maine to Oklahoma, the Union Station in Worcester, and the Old Manse in Concord. She also prepared preservation plans for MIT and Boston University, and more thoroughly researched and beautifully written National Register nominations than we can count. She was the author of Between the Forest and the Bay: A History of West Falmouth as revealed in Its Historic Buildings and Landscapes. Candy was passionate about science fiction, rock music, her dogs, Cape Cod, and her husband Ted, who made her feel safe, strong and very happy. She was a great lover of nature-birds, animals, and all open spaces. She celebrated her 40th birthday trekking in Nepal, embracing the dust and confusion of ancient market cities and the isolation of frozen campsites at 12,000 feet. Casual conversation with her seatmate on the flight to Kathmandu revealed him to be Sir Edmund Hillary, the famed mountaineer. She studied print-making with artist Leonard Baskin, spent a year as a ski bum before graduate school, and learned to love the jazz piano of Dave McKenna when she worked in high school at the Chatham Bars Inn. When she brought friends to hear him play at the Copley Plaza, he always sang the 1940s classic Johnny Mercer love song, "Candy," just for her. A long-time resident of Belmont, Ms. Jenkins restored her small Federal house and filled the yard with lush gardens. Ms. Jenkins will be remembered by her friends and colleagues for her thorough-going professionalism, her wide-ranging knowledge of architectural history, her grasp of the nuances in the historical landscape, her sense of justice and integrity, the shining loyalty of her friendship, and the deep care and concern she bestowed on her parents and her friends. Her untimely passing leaves a profound gap in our lives and the preservation community. Friends are invited to attend a service commemorating her life on Saturday, May 15, at 2 p.m., at the Carriage House of the Codman Estate, Codman Road, Lincoln, Mass. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made in Candy's memory to the World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org.