UMass Boston

Long before Jo Ann Sprague ’80 ever held public office—before her name adorned ballot slips and campaign signs and her signature red wardrobe became synonymous with resilience—she held her most demanding and formative role: a mother of six.

“She raised six children, essentially on her own,” said her daughter Peg Riley. 

Sprague’s husband worked for tech giants IBM and Honeywell, a job that kept him on the road and the family constantly on the move—first Michigan, then Illinois, then Minnesota. By the time they finally put down stakes in Walpole, Massachusetts, in 1962, the chaos of raising six kids had begun to subside. 

For the first time in years, Sprague found herself with a rare and precious commodity: time.

“It was the first time she could truly pause,” Riley said. “She could finally catch her breath and ask, ‘What do I want to do for me?’”

That question didn’t just change Sprague's life. It sparked a transformation. She took on a copywriter position at the Walpole Times, where she was tasked with typing up stories on local politics.

“I got a job there because I was so hungry to earn a little money of my own and to do something on the outside,” she said.

That hunger grew into curiosity. Curiosity evolved into purpose.

At night, with the family car to herself, Sprague drove into town to attend select board and finance committee meetings in Walpole. She wasn’t attending those meetings in any official capacity—at least not yet. She showed up as a taxpayer. A mother. A woman who wanted to understand where her dollars went, and why. 

“I wanted to know where the local tax dollar was going and how they were spending our money,” she said.

However, it wasn’t long before she became something more: a spokesperson for her community. Sprague wasn’t afraid to stand up, ask tough questions, and challenge ideas about which she felt strongly—and people soon took notice.

“She learned to become fearless,” said her daughter Susan Sprague Walters ’83. “I think that’s a real theme in her life from that time on. She’s always polite and she’s always kind, but she’s never afraid to speak up.”

Neighbors began pulling her aside after meetings. Thank you, they’d say. You said what I couldn’t.

“I would speak for the people who couldn’t speak for themselves,” she said. “And that was the beginning.”
In the mid-1970s, Sprague stepped into public service, first as a Town Meeting member, then as a Walpole selectman in 1977. At the same time, she made another bold move: She enrolled full-time at UMass Boston to study classical languages, a passion sparked by childhood visits to the Parthenon replica in Nashville’s Centennial Park. 
“I had a hunger to know how things were back then. I wanted a deep classical education. I didn’t want to quit until I had read the Iliad in Greek and the Aeneid in Latin,” she said. 
She graduated in 1980, age 50, with a degree in classical studies—just as her career in public service was gaining momentum.
Throughout the 1980s and into the ’90s, Sprague served on the Walpole Capital Budget Committee and the Republican Town Committee. But her commitment to public service reached far beyond politics. She sat on the Board of Directors for both the Walpole Visiting Nurses Association and HIRE Enterprises. She was an active member of the Walpole League of Women Voters—serving as both membership chair and secretary—and led the Walpole Scholarship Foundation as president of the Board of Trustees. 

These experiences laid the groundwork for her eventual entry into state politics—an era that her children remember fondly.
“It was just the two of us in the beginning,” Walters said, recalling her role as her mother’s first campaign manager. “We had no idea what we were doing, but my mom was fearless.”
Campaigning became a family event. Her kids held signs, knocked on doors, carpooled to events. Sprague was the spark at the center of it all.
“She was the tornado,” said her son Steve Sprague ’77. “And we were just whisked along for the ride.”

After narrowly losing her first bid for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Sprague did something both symbolic and strategic: she reinvented her image. 

“You learn everything you need to know if you ever lose a race,” she said. When she ran again, she made a bold decision that would define her public image: she wore red.

“I stood on a busy corner in Walpole, alone, in a bright red suit, holding my red-and-white sign. I wanted to stand out,” she recalled. A political mentor later told her, “Don’t ever go out again without red on.” 

Red became her signature—and eventually, her title. Soon, people were recognizing Sprague as “Lady in Red,” a nickname that followed her all the way to the State House.

Riley recalled neighborhood children even dressing up as her mom for Halloween. 

“They’d put on white wigs and red jackets and be my mom,” she said. Her white pickup truck, often hauling campaign signs, became part of that visual brand as well. “As soon as people saw that white pickup truck with the blur of red, they knew it was her.”

In 1993, Sprague won a seat in the Massachusetts House. Six years later, she moved to the State Senate, where she served two districts over two terms: first Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth, then Bristol and Norfolk. 

As she climbed the ranks, Sprague quickly became known for more than just her vibrant wardrobe. People were drawn to her empathy, her natural connection with others, and, above all, her unwavering advocacy for veterans—a cause shaped by her own experience in uniform.

In 1950, at just 18, she joined the Women’s Army Corps and was assigned to the Pentagon Motor Pool, driving high-ranking officials around Washington, D.C. In 1951, at 19, she received a waiver to attend Officer Candidate School—despite being underage and without a college degree—and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. While serving at Fort Meade, Maryland, she met her future husband, Warren Sprague, a World War II Navy veteran.

“The Army gave me a job, a home, and a purpose. I learned to love our country and respect the government that defends our country,” she said. “The Army opened doors that couldn’t be opened before.” 
In return, she made it her mission to open doors for other veterans—beginning with a successful push to exempt their pensions from Massachusetts income tax. When the bill faced opposition, she stood on the House floor and said, “I dare anyone in this room to tell me that our veterans haven’t contributed to our country and this state.” The bill passed unanimously.
She also played a key role in establishing the Massachusetts Heroes Plates program to honor decorated service members.
In 2001, Sprague ran for U.S. Congress in the Massachusetts 9th congressional district. She didn’t win, but her legacy grew stronger. She remained in the State Senate until 2004, retiring not because she had to—but because she promised she would.
“She believed in term limits,” said Walters. “And she kept her word.”

Today, at 93, Sprague still serves.

Now living in Chatham, she’s the most senior member of the town’s Finance Committee, having been recently appointed to another three-year term. She actively participates in meetings, focusing her efforts on financial matters where her skills best fit.

“It’s never too late to hope for something wonderful,” Sprague said. “Don’t let age or education hold you back. If you see a place where you can make a difference, reach for it.”