Karen Wick owned Coco’s Bistro and served on the Dayton Public School Board. She was first elected in 2018.
Saturday, the 64-year-old died.
Monday, flags throughout The Dayton Public School District lowered to half mast in her honor.
Superintendent David Lawrence recounted the long list of Wick’s contributions to the district.
"She went to EJ Brown every Wednesday for a year as a board member. She did not have to do that," Lawrence said. "She was a driver of arts for all schools. When we talked about putting art back in the school and every school in elementary, which we did, she was a supporter of that. When we talked about putting counselors back in every elementary school for the first time in thirty years, she was a supporter of that."
Earlier this year, Wick also ran for one of the two open Dayton City Commission seats. However, two other candidates were ahead of Wick.
According to Lawrence, Wick’s seat will remain vacant for the board’s last two meetings this year.
Last month, Jamika Garrison won Wick’s board seat. In January, Garrison will be sworn in.
Lawrence praised Wick for her dedication and enthusiasm toward DPS and its students.
"She was instrumental in selecting leadership, instrumental in major projects like the Transportation Center," Lawrence said. "Miss Karen Wick would actually come to the transportation center with me in the morning at five o'clock in the morning and bring coffee and cookies for the drivers. She would sit and ride bus routes with me."
Lawrence also praised Wick for her work on the Welcome Stadium revitalization team. He recalled a fond exchange with his long-time friend at that site.
"At Welcome Stadium, there's a picture of me. I'm in the Hall of Fame there for track and field, and I still hold several records. And so we were standing on the track and she crouched down and got in a start stance as if she was running track, and she said, 'I want to see if you were really a record holder.' She said, 'I'll race you.' I said, 'Well, two things will happen. One, I'm sure I'll have some type of injury. And two, you'll probably win,'" said Lawrence.
Lawrence recalled he and Wick often talked about current and future district projects over lunch at her restaurant, Coco’s Bistro. He called her one of his biggest supporters.
"One of her last texts to me was, Hey, how can I help you with Ford Next Generation Learning? Which is our attempt to create pathways and systems and experiences throughout K-12 building structures and systems in the school system and then having real community involvement while we deal with teaching and learning," said Lawrence.
He said her death is hard to understand. With a deep breath, Lawrence said Wick’s joyful spirit continues to inspire him.
"Her generosity with her time, her smile, her sense of being positive at all times in a world where there's a lot of negativity, she just she really stood out. She would say, 'David, it's time to continue the work,'" Lawrence said.
