Remembering Cecilia Gilbert

Cecilia Gilbert didn’t know everyone in town, it just seemed like it.

Gilbert, who worked for 41 years in various city and county government positions and served on or advised countless civic and governmental boards, commission and committees, died recently at the age of 75. Her nickname was “The Queen,” given to her back in 1991 by Amy Chionchio, then the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee, who couldn’t believe how many city employees Gilbert knew by name and even their phone extensions. And “the name just stuck,” Gilbert said.

And that was only midway in her career, before Gilbert’s mental rolodex grew to amass far more names.

“She knew so many people,” says former mayor Tom Barrett, now the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. “Part of her magic was she could work so well with people, everybody knew her and she knew city government so well.”

“She would say, ‘oh I can get that done. And she got it done.”

After earning two bachelor’s degrees from the UW-Milwaukee, Gilbert began her career as community relations analyst for the City of Milwaukee Commission on Community Relations in 1976, followed by three years as an assistant to the Milwaukee County Board, and then 34 years working with the city in various departments. The longest stint was with the Department of Public Works (DPW) where she held two different jobs over a period of 17 years, from 2001 to 2017.

Her DPW tasks included coordinating the department’s role in such events as Bastille Days, the city’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade; helping accommodate businesses during street construction projects, and much, much more.

“She was spokesperson during snowstorms and her phone would be ringing nonstop from the media on how the city would handle it,” says Beth Weirick, CEO of Milwaukee’s Downtown Business Improvement District, who was friends with Gilbert since the late 1970s.

“She had a gift for retaining information and in a really brilliant way communicating it back to people,” Weirick notes. “She was a wonderful behind-the-scenes liaison between the various city departments and the community, even it it wasn’t a department where she worked.”

“She was quite the gatekeeper at DPW,” recalls longtime public relations executive Craig Peterson. “If you wanted to get something done you went to Cecilia. You didn’t go the commissioner. And after she retired it was never the same.”

Beyond her government work, Gilbert was a valued volunteer board member for a long list of groups: Visit Milwaukee,  Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Pabst Mansion, Cathedral Square Friends, Black Public Relations Society, YWCA Circle of Women and the International Arts Festival Advisory Board. She also served on the music committee of Jazz in the Park and the advisory board that created Radio Milwaukee.

“Her laugh, her joy, her passion for Milwaukee” were something she brought to any group she worked with, says Urban Milwaukee Publisher Dave Reid, who serves as board president of Cathedral Square Friends, and recruited Gilbert to join the board. “With her energy and spirit Cecilia elevated our efforts,” he says, noting that she pushed the group to think bigger and helped it significantly increase its fundraising.

During her time on the Visit Milwaukee board she helped the organization expand its diversity and inclusion efforts. “This was long before other groups were getting involved in DEI efforts,” notes Peggy Williams-Smith, Visit Milwaukee president and chief executive officer. The end result was more business, helping Visit Milwaukee draw conventions for such groups as the National Council of La Raza, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the NAACP.

“Her superpower was her infectious personality which she used it to build an incomparable network of friends and allies across the region,” says Chad Bauman, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Rep. “Cecilia was at the center of our work to diversify our audiences, and she worked tirelessly to promote the Milwaukee Rep to her networks.”

Gilbert was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and her family moved to Milwaukee when she was in fifth grade. She was one of four children raised by a single mother.

“I grew up interested in the arts,” she recalled in a story by Charles D. Springfield. “One of my teachers, also a part-time actress, focused my attention on the arts at a young age.”

She provided public relations help for “Black Arts Summer Experience” and for the Hansbery Sands theater company. She helped inspire African American playwright Kevin Ramsey to write the play Grafton City Blues, based on Paramount Records, which was first performed by the Rep in 2008 and revised in 2020 with the name changed to Chasin’ Dem Blues.

In an interview in 2021 Ramsey said he learned about Paramount Records and Milwaukee’s Bronzeville from Gilbert: “It was a most educational encounter.”

“He called me his muse,” Gilbert said. “I am very proud of that.”

As large as her network of acquaintances was, family was the most important thing to Gilbert, says Weirick. “She adored her mother. She had a deep love for her family, for her son and his two grandsons.”

And she also valued her close friends. “She was a great confidante when you were going through tough times,” Weirich confides. “She was a good listener and she always offered helpful advice.”

Gilbert remained active at City Hall after retiring from DPW. In 2021 Barrett appointed her to the Administrative Review Board of Appeals, which reviews appeals from Milwaukee residents, businesses and property owners on such things as litter fees and building reinspection fees.

“She walked the walk when she talked about her love of the city,” Weirick. “It was always there in her actions.”

“She was just a good person,” says Barrett.

“She will be missed by so many,” Reid says.

Gilbert’s survivors include her son, Richard; two grandchildren, Justin and Bryson, and brothers Ceotrid (Rick) and Christopher.

It is common to call a funeral “a celebration” of that person’s life. Never was the term more appropriate. The celebration of Cecilia Gilbert’s remarkable life will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, at Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. Phillips Ave.