Capt. Gino M. Balardini, 83
ADAMS, Mass. — Retired Adams Police Capt. Gino M. Balardini, 83, formerly of 19 Apremont St., died April 19, 2005, of a heart attack at Sugar Hill assisted living facility in Dalton, where he had resided for two years.
Born in Adams on Nov. 11, 1921, son of Pietro and Lea Franchetti Balardini, his family moved to Stockbridge in 1926 and he was a 1940 graduate of the former Williams High School.
A Navy veteran of World War II, he enlisted in 1941 and served on the USS Texas with the Atlantic fleet. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of petty officer, first class.
Capt. Balardini was appointed as a permanent police officer in 1952 and was named as a permanent captain in 1961. He served on the force for 34 years, retiring in 1986. Upon his retirement, the Selectmen cited him for his long service and proclaimed a Capt. Gino Balardini Day. He had first worked at the former Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates' Mill No. 1 as a loom fixer, then in the loom section of the former Arnold Print Works.
He was a founder of the Adams Police Athletic League with James H. Urquhart, James Ryan and George "Pucko" Little. He was a member of the Intervenors' Committee on Child Abuse and was among those honored at the first annual Berkshire County Law and Justice Day in 1988.
He was a communicant of the Parishes of St. Thomas-Notre Dame and St. Stanislaus.
He was a member and treasurer of Adams Council 230 and the Knights of Columbus Fourth-Degree Knights Assemblage.
He was also an officer in the Adams Municipal Employees' Credit Union.
He wife, the former Emma R. Morelli, whom he married Oct. 5, 1946, in St. Thomas' Church, died Jan. 30, 2002.
He leaves a son, David M. Balardini and his wife, Donna Rivers Balardini, of Pittsfield, and two grandchildren, Lori Deane of Jamaica Plain and Darren Balardini of Natick.
FUNERAL NOTICE — Capt. Gino Balardini, 83, died April 19, 2005. In celebration of his life, a Liturgy of Christian Burial will be offered Friday at 11 in St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Cheshire.
The family will greet friends Thursday from 4 to 7 at MCBRIDE FUNERAL HOME, 6 Liberty St., Adams. Burial will be in the family lot in Bellevue Cemetery in Adams. The family suggests memorial donations to St. Mary's Church General Fund, Cheshire, or through the funeral home.