Page 4 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021 ASKS | FROM PAGE 3 to know Reed about a quarter of a century ago, when he previously served as a selectman and was on the board that hired her. I still can’t believe she’s gone. I was on the Board of Selectmen in 1996 when we hired Wendy Reed and she became an instant asset to our Town. Wendy could remember a vote that took place 20 years ago like it happened yesterday. She treated everyone that entered our office with respect and was as loyal as they come. I developed a great friendship with her and I will miss her terribly. Wendy was quiet and reserved but had no problem putting me in my place when she thought I handled something wrong. Aside from serving as our clerk, Wendy also served as Chairman of the School Committee and was a key figure at the Food Pantry. Wendy was recently recognized as a 2020 community all-star for all she did to help others in need during the pandemic. We will find the right way to honor Wendy for her service and dedication to the Town of Saugus and all of its residents. My sincere condolences to the Reed family and a great big thank you for sharing this wonderful person with us for the past 25 years. Wendy, may you rest in peace my dear friend. Saugus Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree, who knew Reed when he was a Saugus police officer, as a selectman and more recently during nearly a decade as town manager: “It’s a very sad loss, and www.eight10barandgrille.com We Have Reopened for Dine-In and Outside Seating every day beginning at 4 PM Wendy is certainly going to be missed for her work with the town and all of the volunteer events she participated in. My condolences go out to her family — especially her children. I think she made her 25 years working for the town in January. I got to know her very well when I got elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2009. One of her assets was she had vast institutional knowledge about the town. And being a former School Committee chair, the big thing she always advocated for was a town wide school district master plan. She advocated for having a study done on that for years. And she was a strong advocate for local education and for the new Saugus Middle-High School, which we eventually got. State Rep. Donald Wong, WE'RE OPEN! 8 Norwood Street, Everett (617) 387-9810 STAY SAFE! (R-Saugus), who was elected without opposition to his sixth two-year term last fall representing voters of the 9th Essex House District, recalled he got to know Reed well when he was first elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2007. He cited her as an invaluable resource during his four years on the board before running for the State House seat: “She was a very quiet person until you got to know her. She always was very professional and got everything done. It seemed like she had everything in her head and could tell you how things ran, recalling specific dates and the details. As a first-time selectman, she gave me all of my guidance. I looked to her for everything and I learned a lot from her. She had so much knowledge in her head that I can’t see any one person replacing her. And every time I went to her office, she would give me a smile. We talked, she made a joke and I could hear her laughter. “Wendy will definitely be missed for the ways she helped the community. Besides being the selectmen’s clerk, she helped out tremendously with the food pantry program. She was always so helpful. Veteran Saugus School Committee Member Arthur Grabowski, who served six years together with Reed on the School Committee: “Besides being a great friend and confident, she was a great chairman of the Saugus School Committee. She knew all the rules and procedures that we had to follow. She knew what our roles were as School Committee members. She was a great person. She was very private, but she cared a lot for the Town of Saugus. “When she took over the food pantry as a volunteer, it was supposed to be on a short-term basis. But she wound up running it for the past five years. And she never took credit for its success. She always gave the credit to everybody else. Between her knowledge of town government and what she knew as a volunteer leader of the food pantry, she will be sorely missed. You don’t find many people like Wendy who volunteer and care about others before themselves. “She was awesome. I never met anybody as organized as she was. Even now, I could ask about something that happened years ago on the School Committee or the Board of Selectmen, and she could put her finger on any document or minutes of the meeting where the action took place. Her institutional knowledge will never be replaced both on the town side and the school side.” Former Selectman Steve Castinetti, a retired U.S. Navy captain and longtime commander of the Saugus Veterans Council. He got to know her well during his time on the Board of Selectmen and in local veterans events: “I don’t think you will find anybody who has anything negative to say about Wendy Reed. You have to feel bad that she’s gone. But it’s made your life better just knowing her. She was a very unobtrusive person who played a big role in many people’s lives–and I don’t think they realized it. “I met her when I first got elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2007. She was a little intimidating until you got to know her. But once you got to know her, she warmed up. And she had a heart of gold. She was the go-to person for many questions that were put to the Board of Selectmen. She was a key resource for the board. And now they are going to have a tough time filling those shoes because she was ASKS | SEE PAGE 5 Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma
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