Norwich ― It seems like Roberta J. Vincent attends most Norwich events, celebrating the accomplishments of local artists, athletes and students.

Vincent, 78, a lifelong Norwich resident, said she would love to play an even more active role with some groups but stops herself, knowing she could not give all of them the time required.

“When I become a member of something, I don’t just want to be a member, I would like to get involved, and I know that sometimes I can’t,” Vincent said. “I don’t want to take it on and not do a thorough job, because that’s not who I am.”

Vincent turns her passions into action. She loves bringing attention to forgotten historic events, people and places. She advocates for youth art programs.

Vincent recalls the thriving downtown and vibrant neighborhoods of the city’s past. But instead of dwelling on the city’s decline, she urges young people to step up and help plan the city’s future.

“Get involved in a positive way,” Vincent said. “Do not just comment. Our economy is different. The people that are here are different. You have a lot of people who sit back and just complain without trying to find a solution or being part of the solution.”

Vincent graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1963 and is on the NFA Alumni Committee. She worked at Computer Sciences Corp. in Norwich from 1991 to her retirement in 2010 and before that worked as a computer room manager at Electric Boat in Groton from 1965 to 1991.

Her first husband, Robert L. Howard, was killed in Vietnam on June 10, 1969. Their son, Robert L. Howard II, is named after him. Vincent’s second husband, John B. Vincent, died Oct. 14, 2022.

Vincent is the daughter of Anthony J. DelGado and Mary Anna Santos, her family immersed in the rich Cape Verdean history of Talman Street. In 1926, her grandfather, Joseph Candido Delgado, a carpenter, built the tiny St. Anthony Chapel that came to symbolize the city’s Cape Verdean community.

Preserving that history is, “so close to my heart,” Vincent said.

Many of the Talman Street Cape Verdean landmarks are gone, including the Santiago Society clubhouse, homes and the beloved chapel.

The chapel stood on private property at 165 Talman St., but when the owner sold the property, the chapel was razed. But some of its artifacts and design features were rescued by Cape Verdean residents.

Vincent said she fell to her knees and cried, feeling that she had betrayed her grandfather’s memory by failing to save the chapel.

As president of the St. Anthony Chapel Foundation, Vincent rallied support and raised money when St. Mary Church at 70 Central Ave. in Greeneville offered its grounds to rebuild the chapel. The rebuilt chapel was rededicated in 2006, an emotional event that brings tears to Vincent’s eyes as she recalls it today.

The foundation cares for the chapel and works to keep local Cape Verdean history alive. St. Mary Church hosts St. Anthony Day in June, with a procession to the chapel and a feast of Cape Verdean food.

In 2021, the St. Anthony Chapel Foundation received a $20,000 grant from the State Historic Preservation Office to hire historian Rachel Carley to interview local Cape Verdeans and research their neighborhoods, businesses and social lives.

“I attended every interview,” Vincent said.

The 67-page “Cape Verdeans in Norwich” was published in 2022, with narrative, photos, maps and charts of streets and Cape Verdean families who lived there. The foundation paid for four signs designating Talman Street as Cabo Verde Way.

Vincent touted two of her other endeavors.

“I love the Norwich Lions,” she said. The club is working to rebuild membership and raise money for its core causes.

All money raised by Lions supports the community, Vincent stressed, including hundreds of eye screenings for students, bags of school supplies donated to 12 local schools and sponsoring a Norwich family each Christmas.

“I get to do the shopping,” she said.

Vincent said she has been on the board at Norwich Arts Center, “forever.” She recently volunteered to be the events publicity person, sending event flyers to local media, City Hall, the local chamber of commerce and posting them on social media.

She attends most NAC events ― Blues on Broadway, Miss Lottie’s Café tribute concerts to jazz greats, plays, art shows and fundraisers.

“I love what we do,” Vincent said. “It’s a blessing that we do all that.”

Faye Ringel, co-president of Norwich Arts Center, said the board relies on Vincent’s institutional memory.

“She remembers everyone,” Ringel said.

“Just her dedication and energy,” Ringel said. “She really is just a dynamo. At the same time, she is extremely concerned with fairness and doing everything possible to help the community, as well as Norwich Arts Center.”

c.bessette@theday.com