By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — A decorated World War II veteran and distinguished lawyer, a local child sports advocate, a popular radio personality who is also a writer and musical artist, and a tireless volunteer are among this year’s inductees into the Pawtucket Hall of Fame.

The Pawtucket Hall of Fame Committee recently announced that John F. McBurney Sr., Michael Reeder, Bruce McCrae (a.k.a. Rudy Cheeks) and the late Albert N.Cartier were chosen to join other prominent city residents in the Pawtucket Hall of Fame.
The four inductees will be honored at a dinner at Corrine’s Restaurant, Garrity St., Pawtucket, on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the Induction Ceremony can be obtained by calling Ken McGill, chairman of the committee, at 475-0388.
In addition, the committee will honor two individuals with an historical induction. They are local pilot and inventor Kurt Langborg and the founder of Pawtucket himself--Joseph Jenks.
According to McGill, “The Pawtucket Hall of Fame Committee looks for our city’s best to induct each year. Once again, the committee has made an outstanding choice in this year’s inductees.”
McGill added that the committee had many nominees to choose from, but the members “did their homework and picked those who they feel have gone above and beyond improving the quality of life for all our residents.”
John F. McBurney Sr., who was born in Pawtucket but grew up in Attleboro, served in the U.S. Army’s 103rd Infantry Division from 1943 to 1946.
He had been awarded a bronze star along with several other medals from the U.S. Government for his heroism in occupied France during the war. More than 60 years later, he was recognized by the French government as well, which bestowed on him the prestigious French Legion of Honor Medal.
McBurney was also something of a baseball hero as well, playing for Providence College and later the Rutland, Vermont Northern League. In 1950, he was named “All American Centerfielder” for the All Star team of the American Athletic Union (AAU).
Having joined the army while in college, McBurney returned to finish his degree and then pursued a law degree at Boston College School of Law. He worked as an electrical contractor for McBurney Electric Inc. and also taught school in the city for several years until he began his Pawtucket law practice.
The 83-year-old McBurney spent more than 50 years in the field of law and served as a state senator from District 2 in Pawtucket from 1958-1974. He and his wife, Ann (Rivello) McBurney, have six children, including state Sen. John McBurney III, Michael McBurney, Christine McBurney, Kevin McBurney, Cathleen McBurney and Mark McBurney.
Michael Reeder, 67, was born in Central Falls, but grew up in Pawtucket and was a standout on the Pawtucket West High School (now Shea) basketball team. He continued his love of the game by officiating basketball at the old Pawtucket Boys Club on East Avenue and the former Fr. Barry CYO center on Denver Street. He was later acknowledged in a national sports publication as one of the best high school basketball officials in New England.
While working a day job for over 30 years with Blackstone Valley Gas and Electric Company, Reeder also established one of the top records in coaching baseball in the Darlington American Little League. Beyond winning numerous titles in that program, he established a minor league tournament that in five seasons raised over $5,000 for the Blackstone Valley Chapter of Retired Citizens.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Reeder teamed up with George Patrick Duffy, an area baseball coach, and the two are credited with winning many games and championships in the Darlington American Little league.  It was while coaching baseball that he came to be part of the development of 8-year-old Ken Ryan, who went on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Pawtucket Red Sox.
Reeder and his wife, Casey, have two sons, John and Steven. He lived most of his life on Tobie Avenue until moving to Narragansett in 1998.
Bruce McCrae, also known as the local media personality Rudy Cheeks, was nominated not only for his many achievements in the radio, newspaper and entertainment industry but for his long history of public service.
The 58-year-old Pawtucket native, now living in Cranston, is a graduate of Tolman High School and the University of Rhode Island. He grew up on Benefit Street, the son of city natives Bruce “Mac” McCrae and the former Marjorie Jenks, whose ancestry reportedly traces back to Joseph Jenks, the ironworker and industrialist who founded Pawtucket in the early 17th century.
As a young musician and songwriter, McCrae lead the bands The Fabulous Motels and The Young Adults, which became known throughout venues in the Northeast for their innovative performances that mixed music and artistic expression.
Later, McCrae’s interest shifted to civic matters and he quickly rose to journalistic prominence He is probably best known for his long-running smart and satirical column on the Rhode Island political scene that appears weekly in the Providence Phoenix. He has also taught adult education classes at the Community College of Rhode island and the Providence Learning Connection.
Among his varied career, accrue has worked in radio as a talk show host and news director, has worked in television as a narrator and producer of various documentaries, and has appeared as an actor in small roles in numerous films, including Me, Myself & Irene, and Federal Hill. He was also senior advisor on the screenplay for Cherry Arnold’s film, Buddy, about former Providence mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci.
Chief among his many community-minded endeavors, McCrae is director of In-Sight Radio, a radio reading service for blind and visually impaired Rhode Islanders for In-Sight, a non-profit agency. His work includes the recruitment and training of 150 volunteer readers and distributing special closed-circuit radio receivers to qualified listeners.
In a posthumous induction, Albert “Al” Cartier, a Pawtucket native and longtime city resident, was chosen for his many years of volunteerism and civic involvement, both in and out of his capacity in Cox Communication’s Community Programming Department.
Among the numerous boards and committees Cartier served on were the Preservation Society of Pawtucket, the Pawtucket Fireworks Committee, the Pawtucket Police Athletic League and PUSH for Pawtucket. He  was a volunteer videographer for many local events, including the Steamboat Muster, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, and a historic series called Along the Blackstone.
Cartier was also credited for being behind the success of many public access shows filmed at the Cox Studios, including “Pawtucket: Your Hometown.”
Cartier was married to Dee Cartier and was the father of several stepchildren. He died in 2006 at the age of 66.
This year’s historical inductees include Joseph Jenks Jr., a young ironworker from England who is credited as being the founder of Pawtucket, and Kurt Langborg, a Swedish native who was a local pilot and aircraft engineer and considered to be one of Pawtucket’s pioneers in the field of aviation.