“I worry about what happens to our students when their leaders lose sight of whom they serve," said Du Bois Middle School Spanish teacher Mercedes Girona. “I understand that there are budget cuts, but I feel like there needs to be a little bit more humanity."
Most of his professional life was at Allied Stores Corp. in New York City, where he became vice president for planning and research and a nationally known authority on retail store location.
He was made a captain with TWA in 1959, flew the media “chase” plane for Gerald Ford’s presidential run in 1976 and, in 1984, was named the company’s “Pilot of the Year” for skillfully averting the crash of his fully-loaded 747 while experiencing a mechanical failure flying from New York’s JFK to Rome.
Always one to give back to the community, he gave of his time as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army and a love of Broadway was fulfilled as a volunteer usher in many theatres throughout the Berkshires.
John Boddie also worked for many years as a special patrolman for Great Barrington and Stockbridge, a Berkshire County deputy sheriff, and at Birches-Roy Funeral Home.
Zip worked as an electrician for Rising Paper Mill, Barrington Electric and Berkshire Hills Regional School District, and was the wire inspector for the Town of Great Barrington for many years–he was the longest serving town officer in Berkshire County.
An accomplished athlete, Richard achieved the remarkable by competing in all (40) Josh Billings triathlons to date; ran the Boston Marathon for several years, played golf regularly, cross-country skied, and loved canoeing the Housatonic River.
While Toomey saw action at both the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, it was the fact that the peace treaty was signed in Tokyo Bay in 1945 aboard the very ship on which he was serving that he was most proud.
During his long service career he was afforded the opportunity to visit many places both overseas and in the U.S., namely the Azores, Germany, Italy and Holland.
Mr. Holmes was a devoted father, a volunteer and leader in community organizations, a great salesman and a savvy investor. He played golf into his 100th year.