Shugrue Running as 'Advocate' for the People
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| Timothy Shugrue (Photo By Linda Galok) |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Timothy Shugrue kicked off his campaign for Berkshire County district attorney in the middle July against the incumbent, David Capeless.
Shugrue has never run for political office and last week described it as exhausting, the time spent away from his family a sacrifice.
"It's well worth it, but I never realized there were so many events and agricultural fairs in Berkshire County," he said. "The thing I love most is that it's put me in touch with so many people I might not have normally met."
Since there are no Republicans in the race, the Sept. 14 Democratic primary will be the day Berkshire County's district attorney is elected. Although Shugrue has been an attorney since 1986, when he graduated from Western New England College School of Law in Springfield, and a politician for a few weeks, Shugrue used neither word to describe himself.
"I like to think of myself as an advocate," he said. "In my practice, I don't necessarily tell people what to do as much as I try to teach them about the laws, allowing them to make their own informed decisions."
A highlight of his career was teaching at the National College of District Attorneys, University of Houston Law Center in Houston in 1991.
"I hope my kids go into teaching," he said. "The law can be a tough, nasty business and you can't leave it at the office every day at 5."
An assistant district attorney in the Child Abuse Division of the Hampden County district attorney's office from June 1986 to December 1990, Shugrue said he was witness to "horrifying crimes" but felt he was making a difference in children's lives, prosecuting sexual abuse cases no one wanted to deal with at the time.
"Silence is an abuser's ally," he said. "People don't want to believe that someone would hurt a child, but, unfortunately, it happens."
He came to work as an assistant district attorney in Berkshire County in January 1991, at the behest of District Attorney Gerard D. Downing, to help prosecute a backlog of sex crimes.
"Gerry knew I wanted to come back to Berkshire County and he gave me the opportunity," Shugrue said. During his time with the Berkshire County district attorney's office, Shugrue was the founder and co-creator of the Berkshire County Children's Advocacy Center. He considers it one of his proudest accomplishments.
"There was no after care for kids who had been abused," he said.
Also referred to as The Kids' Place, it is a combination prevention and healing center for children who have suffered from or are at risk of abuse. Law enforcement officers, forensic interviewers, doctors, social workers and therapists work together and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for victims and potential victims. The program is multi-funded and self-supporting, run by Executive Director Jennifer Stokes.
"She was so brave to take on this job," Shugrue said. "When I asked her to move back here, we had bought the old Red Cross building on Wendell Ave, but didn't have any money to refurbish it and I only had one year's salary available for her and no idea where the money for the following year would come from or if it would come at all."
In December 1993, after eight years working as a prosecutor, and with the Kid's Place no longer requiring his day-to-day supervision, Shugrue said he felt he was no longer achieving any personal growth in his career and he joined Marcus, Antonucci & Quigley. He then opened his own private practice at 212 South St. in April 1994.
"Divorces, in their own way, can sometimes be as hard as child abuse cases," he said. "I feel I have accomplished a lot in my career and I'm happy with that. I now want to go back to being more involved in the community."
Born in Uxbridge on April 4, 1960, Shugrue moved with his family to Pittsfield when he was 13. He attended Taconic High School, where he ran an FM radio program. He had a book of old laws that remain in effect (albeit unenforced) today, and every program highlighted one of those laws, he said. Kicking a pigeon and spitting on the sidewalk were two of his favorites.
He is the middle child of an Irish Catholic family of two brothers and four sisters, most of whom continue to live in this area. His father, Walter Shugrue, lives in Lanesborough with his sister, Annmarie Vogel, and her family. His mother, Sophie Shugrue, passed away in February 2002 after struggling several years with Alzheimer's — two weeks after his mother-in-law died and barely three months after he had married for the second time.
He met his current wife, Joann Shugrue, on July 22, 2001, at her son's hockey game in Springfield. They were married less than six months later on Dec. 8, 2001.
"I didn't think I'd ever get married again, but when it's right, you know it and we both just knew it. We felt lucky to have each other when we both lost our mothers within such a short period of time,'" he said.
Currently living in the town of Washington, Shugrue describes home as his "little piece of heaven." He is an enthusiastic gardener and said, "Growing roses is just time and patience."
His office is always full of flowers, which he has delivered twice a week. His home is always full of children. "All the kids' friends like to come here and we enjoy having them," he said.
Sharing physical custody of his daughter, Caitlin Shugrue, with his ex-wife, Shugrue has added a 14-year-old stepson, Joshua LaBarre, and an 11-year- old stepdaughter, Jordan LaBarre, to his family, putting Caitlin in the middle at age 12. She will be 13 on Sept. 11.
"At first Caitlin didn't want me to run for DA," Shugrue said. "She liked the fact that I was able to help our friends with real estate closings and other legal matters, but when I explained that the job of DA would make me able to help more people who were less fortunate, she became my biggest supporter. My whole family has made sacrifices during my campaign, without complaint, and that's been so heartwarming."
Although he's an avid reader of non-fiction, Shugrue won't watch horror movies. "The kids tease me, but I've seen the real thing. Autopsy photographs haunt you forever. After seeing it first hand, it's not entertainment to me. It's forever an image that you can't get rid of. They don't go away — but I hope they make me stronger."
He admits to reading all of John Grisham's novels just to get a glimpse into "what the glamorous side of the law could be like, if things really happened that way." His reading and his experiences have made him believe everything in life happens for a reason and he said he wouldn't change anything for fear changing something bad might alter something good, too.
"I've had disappointments — ups and downs are part of life. You can dwell on them or you can get on with things. There are many people who deal with truly awful situations, and it is amazing what people can overcome and give back," he said. "So I try not to complain because something broke in the house or I'm having a bad day. If you can appreciate things, you realize that your problems are minuscule compared to some."
In private practice, he has learned that everyone has problems; things aren't always what they appear to be and people will surprise you.
"I tend to see the good in people, but you see a lot of greed in my profession — it sometimes seems as if everybody is out for the buck. But I also think there is simple kindness in people. I used to be amazed when I would go to church and people would listen to the sermon and then cut each other off in the parking lot. But the more we are kind to each other, the less our defenses come up. If we can reflect on what's right in front of us, we can make people's day. I guess you'd say that I'm an eternal optimist," he said.
Shugrue thinks that his optimism has given him the tools to accomplish his goals in life: "People told me the children's center would never happen, but it did happen and it's happening still."
He feels his intuition has helped make him successful as a trial attorney.
"Body language and eye contact will tell you a lot about a juror. You want them to make eye contact and be a little uncomfortable with that so that they'll listen harder and give their decisions more thought — hopefully in your client's favor, if you've done your job well." His superstitions, he believes, might have been what helped the Patriots win the Super Bowl last year. "I waited to get up from my seat until they got that field goal," he confided, "I'm sure it helped."
Faith, hope and good luck charms firmly in place, Shugrue's goal now is a successful bid for district attorney.
"I grew up safe here and I want the same thing for our kids. There needs to be a balance. I want to work with community agencies to help prevent crime rather than just prosecute it. Working as a team, maybe the worst crimes will someday be kicking a pigeon and spitting on the sidewalk."
Tags: election 2004,
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