Elizabeth Walker’s legacy honored with shelf at Brownsville library

BROWNSVILLE, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) — The City of Brownsville and the Brownsville Public Library System unveiled a portrait of the late Assistant City Manager Elizabeth Walker.

Walker served the city of Brownsville as Assistant City Manager from 2019 to 2023. Last year she lost her battle to cancer. However, her legacy lives on.

Members of the community chose to commemorate Walker’s dedication to public service by giving she and her family a special portrait in the city library.

Visitors can find her memorial labeled Elizabeth Way and Elijah Way.

Walker was avid reader, according to her widower David Escobar.

“Elizabeth was the root of all good,” Escobar said. “She cared about everybody, everyone’s wellbeing. When she began city work she was really involved. She started in Weslaco and was always wanting to get the best for employees and for the city. She worked hard and she worked long hours. She dedicated a lot of her time to do that just to make her community better.”

He said his wife valued community and always strived to improve.

“She was just a wonderful person, very intelligent, beautiful, beautiful soul and we are very proud of her,” Escobar said. “Even though this work took a lot of time away from us we are very proud of her.”

The dedicated portrait of Walker in the library is fitting to her love for books. Her husband told ValleyCentral Walker was always reading and adding to her personal collection, keeping novels from as early as her high school days.

The gift of reading is something that Escobar says his wife passed down to their son Elijah, whose name is also on the shelf at the Brownsville library. Elijah got to select some of his favorite novels to add to his moms public shelf collection.

He tells ValleyCentral his mother was big advocate for growth in the community and frequently took him down to South Padre Island to watch SpaceX launches from the shoreline.

“Since her passing everything that’s happening all these new things, all these new things that are coming, I think to myself that she would be proud of what’s going on and how much this city is growing,” Escobar said.

With tears in his eyes, the widower said he thanks his wife for giving him a son who reminds him so much of her. Escobar said he is grateful for the legacy that Walker has left both on the community and his family.

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