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Pawtucket hall-of-famers inducted |
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Tuesday, 20 October 2009 |
PAWTUCKET — One made a difference in the battlefield, another on the ice and a third in the city's schools. As such, Jim Brennan, Keith Carney and Ted Dolan were chosen to be inducted into the 2009 Pawtucket Hall of Fame.
The 18th annual dinner and induction ceremony honoring the three Pawtucket natives was held Friday night at Corinne's Banquets. In addition, there was also a historical induction honoring Samuel Collyer, the first fire chief of the Pawtucket Fire Department.
According to Ken McGill, who served as master of ceremonies for the event, “The Pawtucket Hall of Fame was established in 1986 for the purpose of spotlighting the contributions to our city from some extraordinary people.” He added, “In our hall, I am proud to say we have people from all walks of life. From Olympians and television stars to people who work with and feed the poor. They are a very diverse group of whom we are all proud.”
McGill said that Jim Brennan, Keith Carney and Ted Dolan “have made this city a better place for all of us to live, work, and raise our families. Our city is strengthened by the work of these individuals and their friends and families should be very proud of all of them.”
Mayor James Doyle did the induction following an invocation by Most Reverend Robert M. Gubala, of Holy Family Parish in Webster, MA.
According to his biography from the Hall of Fame Committee, James E. Brennan enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1940. Assigned to the Army Air Corp, he arrived in the Philippine Islands in November 1941 to await the arrival of his aircraft, just 18 days before the United States entered the war,
Because of Japan's attack, the aircraft never came, and Brennan and the other trained airmen became provisional infantry.
For three months, Brennan and the other infantrymen helped fight off the Japanese invaders until General King's surrender on April 9, 1942. He was forced into the infamous Bataan Death March, where the surviving POWs were stuffed into “Hell Ships” and taken to Japan. For Brennan, this meant working twelve hours a day, seven days a week in a steel mill in Hirohata, Japan until he and the other POWs were liberated in October of 1945.
Upon his return home in 1947, Brennan joined the Pawtucket Police Department. He retired in 1982 as a lieutenant and head of the traffic division. He was also the first president of the Pawtucket Lodge #4, Fraternal Order of Police.
Brennan has been active in several veterans and civic organizations and is recognized as a strong advocate for veterans' issues. He has received many honors, including the Rhode Island Medal and the U.S. Army Combat Infantry Badge.
The biography of Keith E. Carney states that his hockey career began at age three,when he learned to skate at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena. He began playing organized hockey at age five, as well as baseball and football. At Mount St. Charles, he played varsity baseball and hockey for four years, and in 1988, was voted the top defenseman in New England and the best pro prospect.
Although drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1988, Carney chose to go to the University of Maine. During his three years on the varsity hockey team, he was both a Hockey East All-Star and an All-American. He was also voted to the Hockey East All-Decade Team in 1992.
Carney began his NHL career in 1992 with the Sabres and over the next 17 years played with teams in Chicago, Phoenix, Anaheim, Vancouver and Minnesota. In 2003, he played in the Stanley Cup finals with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. In 2008, he became the 29th American to play in 1,000 NHL games and the oldest defenseman to score an overtime goal in the NHL playoffs at age 38.
In addition, Carney represented his country in various international hockey competitions, including the U.S. National Junior team, Team USA, the U.S. World Cup of Hockey Team and the U.S. Olympic Team.
According to the biography for Charles F. “Ted” Dolan, the 23-year veteran of the city's Police Department was known as the “toughest cop in Pawtucket” but also as a man who would go out of his way to help people, particularly young people.
Dolan's work with the youth of Pawtucket continued as a member of the Pawtucket Department's Community Relations Unit, where he was recognized by the Attorney General's office for his efforts on youth programs. He also created Pawtucket's “Officer Friendly” program for children in the primary schools, which became a model in the state.
As a longtime baseball coach, Dolan was considered a mentor who looked at the sport as an opportunity to teach his players the life lessons they would need to become successful members of society.
According to many who knew and worked with him, the same attributes that made Dolan a success as a coach and a police officer helped make him successful in his later endeavors with the Department of Transportation and as registrar of the Division of Motor Vehicles.
From historical accounts, the posthumous inductee, Samuel Smith Collyer, was “a well-liked person with an affable, genial and whole-souled nature which won him a host of loyal friends.” He was born in Pawtucket on May 3, 1832, was educated in the Pawtucket public schools. He was reportedly considered one of the most highly respected people in the city, even after his death on July 27, 1884, which was caused by a wagon accident.
Collyer went to work at the age of 14, eventually joining his uncle, Nathaniel S. Collyer, to open N.S. Collyer & Company engineers and machinists, in Pawtucket. Samuel became the sole owner of this successful establishment in 1876, when his uncle passed away.
Throughout his adulthood, Collyer was involved with many civic, religious and political activities. During the Civil War, he organized the Tower Light Battery of Pawtucket and was its first captain and drillmaster. Among his many interests were the society of the Congregational Church, the building committee for the Park Place Congregational Church and the board of water commissioners for the construction of the waterworks. When Pawtucket was still part of North Providence, he was on the North Providence town council and served as its president for many years. He also served as chairman and moderator of many town meetings.
Collyer's greatest service to the residents of Pawtucket was as the city's first fire chief. He was a longtime member of the volunteer fire department and was chief engineer of the Pawtucket Fire District since its inception. He was also influential in the introduction of the fire alarm telegraph in Pawtucket.
To celebrate this great man, a statue was erected in Collyer's honor in 1890 and still stands today in Collyer Park. One hundred and nine years later, he received a “much deserved induction into the Pawtucket Hall of Fame,” according to the Hall of Fame Committee.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 12 November 2009 )
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