Jun 2, 2023
The Memorial Day parade in Medfield has always been a festive occasion. Historically speaking, the holiday celebration would start with Clifford Gerald Doucette. Gerry was Medfield’s veterans’ agent, past American Legion commander, key member of the Medfield Memorial Day Committee and Committee to Study Memorials, and a prime mover in getting the major enhancements to Baxter Park some 25 years ago.
Why is it that people work so hard in life, live an exemplary life with great devotion…and then die at the age of 70? That is the question Gerry Doucette’s family asked themselves after their patriarch passed away in 2000. His loss to the town and to the Memorial Day ceremonies was felt town wide.
Few people would disagree that Gerry didn’t love life. It was a quality that certainly carried over to his family and to the lives of those around him. It seemed to many that Gerry was always painting and repainting the dark-red house of his family on Pleasant Street. As soon as he finished, cleaned the brushes and picked up the drop cloths, he began preparing the house for a new coat. At one point he pondered installing vinyl siding, but it came to naught. Such was the comical side of Gerry Doucette. One might say that he fully enjoyed the journey of his life while advancing toward to its destination. Gerry was the master of the impromptu speech as evidenced by his ability to lead off the Memorial Day Parade year after year. He was a man who always seemed larger than life. It’s hard to realize that Gerry could submit to ordinary human mortality.
Speaking of people and heroes who put forth a super-human effort, Mrs. Ann Rossi comes to mind. She was a very well-known figure not only on Memorial Day but also in the Medfield community. Do any of us truly appreciate how difficult it is to teach fifth grade? It’s something we take for granted. As parents, we make sure our kids get to school but leave the rest of the work to devoted teachers like Mrs. Rossi. She was the picture of love and dedication. She began her teaching profession in what is now the Pfaff Center. Over 50 years ago, before the completion of the Memorial Elementary School in 1951, that building housed the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.
It was referred to as the North Street School and later known to many by its nickname, Fort Apache, when it was a junior high school and not called a middle school. From September to June, year after year, Mrs. Rossi and her colleagues taught school to a great number of Medfield’s children. Today some of those students are the leaders who help drive the world around us. We should take treasure the fact that Mrs. Rossi helped many of us get to where we are.
Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and more powerful than a locomotive! No that was not Superman, but the mythical and popular A. Ritchey Stagg, M.D. He was a local hero who had served Medfield for many years. There aren’t any people today who remember when he started practicing medicine, but nearly everyone who saw him while watching the Memorial Day Parade, stopped to say hello.
Where do some people derive their strength and energy? For Dr. Stagg, it was his love and devotion to his practice. He was always on call. If summoned, he would get into his car and “put the pedal to the metal”, all the way to the emergency room of the Leonard Morse Hospital. Throughout his career Dr. Stagg’s office on Pleasant Street was just as crowded then as it was later for his son, Dr. Peter Stagg.
A tireless worker, Dr. Stagg became legend. Coming out in the middle of the night to relieve a child’s asthma attack was considered standard procedure, all part of the profession. For many years, he was also the team physician, frequently seen on the sidelines at Medfield High School football games. For him being a doctor was a discipline, a science and a chance to work his personal magic. Dr. Stagg died on September 30, 2006, at the age of 99.
Can any of us imagine what it might be like flying a bombing mission over Germany toward the end of World War Two? Vin Palumbo had to fly over Berlin while the German military was firing back at him with everything they had. Miraculously, nothing hit his plane, and Vin returned with thousands of other veterans to a nation that celebrated their triumph.
Many women sent their husbands off to war as strong and capable soldiers, but upon return found them to have changed. If ever there was an exception to that axiom, it would have been Vin Palumbo. True enough, the World War did represent a rather big speed bump in his plans to play major league baseball, but not enough to stop his ambition. Vin became a very successful businessman and, together with his loving wife Muriel, passed on a legacy to each of his three sons. With a strong civic pride, he also gave much to the community of Medfield. On past Memorial Days, with a smile on his face, he could be seen proudly marching in uniform.
William H. Mann must have been the most affable person who ever patrolled and protected the streets of Medfield. World War II found him in Stuttgart, Germany, one of the crossroads of the world, the border of East and West Berlin. Later, after returning to Medfield with his German bride, Elizabeth, he became the chief of the Medfield Police Department. Even after he retired, he was still one of the Medfield’s most recognizable figures: a good reason for asking him to be the master of ceremonies at the Medfield Town Hall during the year 2000 Memorial Day service. Billy was a gifted speaker and natural leader; when he spoke, people listened. He brought the crowd together with his great sense of humor and kept the entire program flowing smoothly. Most reverently and with great dignity, he paid tribute to the man who had preceded him for so many years, Gerry Doucette.
This year, on Memorial Day, many took the time to go to Medfield center and salute the veterans and other people marching in the parade. We might also want to acknowledge some of the spectators. Much like the five heroes mentioned in this story, their lives, too, are rich in spirit and generosity, and the lives they have enriched will always shine like the sun. What these heroes have done in life, will echo forever in Medfield history.