FAIRHOPE, Alabama—Known as a trailblazer for civil rights and community involvement throughout her life on both sides of Mobile Bay, Janice “Teko” Wiseman received Fairhope First’s 2012 Quality of Life award on Sunday.

Wiseman, who died this past November, came to Fairhope with her husband, Dr. Hollis Wiseman, to enjoy her retirement, but she led a life here that was anything but retiring.

“Teko was an amazing woman and, together with Hollis, left an incredible legacy on both sides of Mobile Bay,” said Mayor Tim Kant, in a statement. “They both were very active and involved in helping make improvements for everyone’s benefit.”

After many years as community activist in Mobile, working to improve race relations in the early days of school segregation, founding Keep Mobile Beautiful, and serving as Outreach Director for the Mobile Public Library, Teko and Hollis turned their attentions to their new home in Fairhope.

In 1995, shortly after moving to Baldwin County, Teko noticed the lack of sidewalks along the bay, and conceived the idea of building a 32-mile hiking/biking trail beginning at the Battleship on the xauseway and extending along the Eastern Shore to Weeks Bay Reserve.

The organization she founded, Baldwin County Trailblazers, raised more than $6 million over the next 15 years to make that dream a reality. The building project included the popular “Gator Alley” underpass and trail at I-10.

Today, the Eastern Shore Trail is just a couple miles shy of completion, and Trailblazers is continuing to work on extending the network of trails. Currently under evaluation are trails from Weeks Bay Reserve to Foley, a new trail from Mullet Point to Weeks Bay, and a 30-mile ‘rails to trails’ project from Foley to Bay Minette, according to a city news release.

In 2010, the National Park Service designated the trail a National Recreation Trail, and for her work, Teko was honored with the Alabama Trail Advocate award from the organization, American Trails.

City Councilwoman Debbie Quinn described Teko Wiseman as a visionary.

“Teko took an idea and brought communities and dollars together to make it happen.”