Ramsey Granillo wins inaugural William W. Pickrum Service Award

The award was presented as part of the annual Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance — sponsored by Minary’s Dream Alliance, Chester Valley Ministers Association and Washington College — held this year at the college.

Cheers and applause from 250 attendees echoed in Decker Theatre as Ramsey Granillo walked to the stage to accept the award, and when she walked back to her seat.

During her acceptance, Ramsey Granillo said her family taught her how to serve and be a member of a community, and she was thankful that they — along with other mentors and friends — were present to see her accept the award.

“I look forward to being able to do a lot more work in the future,” she said.

Minary’s Dream co-founder Paul Tue III read Ramsey Granillo’s biography as part of her introduction.

Ramsey Granillo grew up in Chestertown and attended the public schools in Queen Anne’s County. She earned a Master’s of Arts in Latin American history from Fordham University in New York. It was there she was awarded the Rigobert Menchu-Túm Award in 2005 for academic excellence in Latin American and Latino studies. She also taught English to immigrants and researched local activism in the Bronx, N.Y.

After graduating, Ramsey Granillo’s work took her to South America. In Guatemala, she worked at a safe house for migrants and in El Salvador she worked with former refugees and ex-combatants to rebuild their lives. It was in El Salvador she met her husband and her son was born.

After 10 years, Ramsey Granillo returned to Chestertown, where for the last six years she has served as the director of the Kent County Local Management Board, developing and funding strategies to help children, youth and families.

“Rosemary is quick to use her skills and her network in an emergency,” Tue said. “She shines in any room of community partners and leaders, ready to brainstorm initiatives, strategies and collaborations.”

The William W. Pickrum Service Award was named for Commander William Pickrum, who died April 15, 2021.

According to his obituary, published in the April 29, 2021 edition of the Kent County News, Pickrum attended Henry Highland Garnet High School in Chestertown. He was selected as the third African American to attend the United States Coast Guard Academy, where he graduated with honors in 1970. Pickrum earned several commendations for his accomplishments over the course of his 22 year career in the Coast Guard as a helicopter rescue pilot.

Pickrum later served as a professional commercial pilot, small business owner and Kent County Commissioner, among other contributions to his community.

President of the Kent County Commissioners Ron Fithian spoke about Pickrum at Monday’s ceremony.

“Mr. Pickrum was one of the longest serving commissioners in Kent County’s history,” Fithian said. “Pickrum served on that board for 16 years, from 2002 to 2018. It was my distinct honor and pleasure to serve alongside him for 12 of those 16 years.”

Fithian also read from a proclamation naming April 30, 2021 William W. Pickrum Day. That proclamation also includes a biography of Pickrum.

During the ceremony, a short excerpt of an interview with Pickrum was played. The video, part of the Chesapeake Heartland’s digital archive, is an oral history interview from October 2020. During that clip, Pickrum talks about education and the opportunities he was provided — and expected by his family to take.

“One of the things that I was always taught was that as you go through life, doors will open. Don’t be afraid to walk through,” Pickrum said in the video.

Members of Pickrum’s family, including his wife Vita, as well as some of his former classmates were in attendance of the ceremony, MDA co-founder Doncella Wilson said Monday.

An exhibit celebrating Pickrum’s life was on display in the lobby of Gibson Center for the Arts at Washington College during Monday’s ceremony. The items displayed were loaned to the Chesapeake Heartland Project by Vita Pickrum.