Town Meeting Members Mark 25 Years

Being a Town Meeting member involves more than just showing up once a year—these 240 elected officials vote on town business throughout the year, at annual and special meetings that often run for multiple nights, late into the evening. In addition, Town Meeting members must be informed on the issues, several of which are pretty complicated and quite controversial.

To recognize the unique committment of being a longtime Town Meeting member, every spring the Richard Patton Melick Foundation honors residents who have served as part of the voting body for 25 years or more.

The foundation is named for Richard Patton Melick, who served as Town Moderator for 35 years, from 1962-1997.

On Monday, May 14, just before the start of the , Melick Foundation representatives recognized two Needham residents who have each served on Town Meeting for 25 years—Patricia Buckley, who was first elected in 1988, and Ron Sockol, who was first elected in 1984.

Buckley and Sockol join a long list of dedicated Needhammites who have served on Town Meeting for more than two decades, including the longest-serving member, James Hugh Powers, who was first elected in 1951 and has since retired.

Powers was in attendance Monday night, sitting in the back of the great hall that has been named in his honor.

Below is a list of residents who have been honored for 25 years of service or more on Town Meeting, since The Melick Foundation first began this recognition in 2001, in order of their first year of service:

• James Hugh Powers, 1951
• Ron Morrison, 1956
• Bill Powers, 1961
• , 1962 (current member, Precinct I)
• Gil Cox, 1964 (current member, Precinct G)
• Roger Hunt, 1964 (current member, Precint D)
• John Day, 1967
• John Milligan, 1967 (current member, Precinct F)
• Bob Larsen, 1969 (current member, Precinct H)
• Robert Downs, 1970 (current member, Precint J)
• Roy Nutile, 1971
• Elizabeth Keil, 1973
• Jack Cogswell, 1974
• Thomas Harkins, 1974 (current member, Precinct G)
• Dan Matthews, 1974 (current selectman, member at large)
• Stanton Davis, 1975
• Susan Abbott, 1976 (current member, Precinct G)
• Carol Boulris, 1976
• Richard Davis, 1976 (current member, Precinct F)
• Marcia Mather, 1976 (current member, Precinct J)
• Roma Jean Brown, 1977
• Kathleen Lewis, 1978 (current member, Precinct D)
• Maureen McCaffrey, 1978 (current member, Precinct G)
• George Tarallo, 1978
• Barbara Wilmot, 1978
• Meredith Page, 1979
• Bill Dermody, 1980 (current member, Precinct J)
• Joan Adams, 1981
• Jane Howard, 1981
• Tedi Eaton, 1982 (town clerk, member at large)
• Emily Salaun, 1982
• Suzanne Hughes, 1983
• Daniel Linz, 1983
• Barbara Popper, 1983
• Lois Sockol, 1983 (current member, Precinct I)
• Ron Sockol, 1984 (current member, Precinct I)
• Nancy McCarthy, 1984 (current member, Precinct H)
• Tom Soisson, 1984 (current member, Precinct D)
• Jerry Wasserman, 1984 (current selectman, member at large)
• Katherine D'Addesio, 1985
• Richard Creem, 1986 (current member, Precinct A)
• MaryRuth Perras, 1986
• , 1987 (current member, Precinct D)
• Pat Buckley, 1988 (current member, Precint G)