Members of the Williamstown Police Department stand at attention during Thursday's memorial for John M. 'Mike' Kennedy, former police chief.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — John M. "Mike" Kennedy was remembered Thursday as a true man of peace.
"Mother Theresa, in looking around at the world she lived in, sometimes would find a lack of peace," the Rev. John P. McDonagh told the hundreds of mourners gathered at Eastlawn Cemetery. "She would pose the question, 'If we have no peace, we have forgotten that we belong to one another.'
"Mike seemed to understand this, both as a criminal justice professional and as an advocate for veterans."
Kennedy, 75, died last month after a lifetime of service to his nation and his community.
A Missouri native who grew up in Williamstown, Kennedy served in the Army, attaining the rank of sergeant, before returning to his hometown and working as a police officer from 1970 until his retirement in 2000, a tenure that included 11 years as chief.
In more recent years, he was an active member of the American Legion Post 152, whose members voted last month to name the post in his honor, and an advocate for veterans looking to navigate a bureaucracy that sometimes seemed designed to deny them the benefits they deserved.
"[Kennedy understood], frankly, that people don't know any peace if they have suffered injustice," McDonagh said. "Mike seemed to embody this by his presence — not so much by what he said, he was not a man of many words, as we know — but, by his presence, that we belong to each other.
"People, you and I, can really do some dumb things, especially when we're hurt. Mike had an ability to sit with people, rather than arresting them, taking them to Burger King for some food and conversation. Later, listening to the hurt that veterans suffered, Mike, you made us think of how we do belong to each other."
McDonagh chose for his main reading a passage from the Book of Wisdom, which reads, in part, "The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace."
The service on Wednesday morning included honors from both the American Legion and the Williamstown Police Department.
The Legion provided a 21-gun salute, the playing of taps and a flag-folding ceremony with presentation to the Kennedy family.
The WPD provided the End of Watch Call ceremony in recognition of Kennedy's legacy of service to the community.
The service ended with the words of the Williamstown dispatcher, who told the mourners, "Although he is gone, he will never be forgotten. Chief, we have the watch from here, sir."
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Williamstown Fire Committee Talks Station Project Cuts, Truck Replacement
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Prudential Committee on Wednesday signed off on more than $1 million in cost cutting measures for the planned Main Street fire station.
Some of the "value engineering" changes are cosmetic, while at least one pushes off a planned expense into the future.
The committee, which oversees the Fire District, also made plans to hold meetings over the next two Wednesdays to finalize its fiscal year 2025 budget request and other warrant articles for the May 28 annual district meeting. One of those warrant articles could include a request for a new mini rescue truck.
The value engineering changes to the building project originated with the district's Building Committee, which asked the Prudential Committee to review and sign off.
In all, the cuts approved on Wednesday are estimated to trim $1.135 million off the project's price tag.
The biggest ticket items included $250,000 to simplify the exterior masonry, $200,000 to eliminate a side yard shed, $150,000 to switch from a metal roof to asphalt shingles and $75,000 to "white box" certain areas on the second floor of the planned building.
The white boxing means the interior spaces will be built but not finished. So instead of dividing a large space into six bunk rooms and installing two restrooms on the second floor, that space will be left empty and unframed for now.
The Charter Review Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to endorse an amended version of the compliance provision it drafted to be added to the Town Charter. click for more
Developer David Traggorth asked the trustees to make the contribution from its coffers to help unlock an additional $5.4 million in state funds for the planned 54-unit apartment building at the south end of the Cable Mills site.
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The donors, who wish to remain anonymous, say the gift reflects their desire to not only support Williams but also President Maud S. Mandel's strategic vision and plan for the college.
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Neighbors of a proposed subdivision off Summer Street last week asked the Planning Board to take a critical look at the project, which the residents say is out of scale to the neighborhood. click for more