OBITUARIES
Vincent J. Hebert, who served as superintendent of the Pittsfield (Mass.) Department of Parks and Recreation for 39 years, died on March 23. He was 81.
An elected fellow of the American Institute of Park Executives — a predecessor to the National Recreation and Park Association — Hebert served as a member of the executive board of the Massachusetts Recreation and Park Society. Credited with building the Pittsfield Department of Parks and Recreation into “one of the best in the country” by the city’s recreation director John C. Marchesi, Hebert retired from the department in 1989.
Dr. William E. Randall Jr., professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts and an active member of the Society of Professional Recreation Educators, died on April 16. Randall served for more than 20 years as chair, and another 10 years as program director, of the university’s nature recreation department, which later became the leisure studies and resources program.
His vast research and studies on natural resources issues in the Northeast produced the identification of natural and recreational sites in the Connecticut River watershed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and an inventory of natural resources for Northeast Utilities for the creation of the Northfield Mountain project. He also served on curriculum review accreditation teams for NRPA.
After a 14-month battle with cancer, Stephen H. Carpenter, executive director of the Quincy (Ill.) Park District, passed away on April 8. Carpenter, who was 55 at the time of his death, retired in 1998 after serving five years as executive director.
Before coming to Quincy, Carpenter had been the director of State Parks and Forests for the commonwealth of Massachusetts. An active member of the Illinois Association of Park Districts, he was the recipient of numerous state and national awards recognizing his professional management, leadership, and park resource development.
Thomas Ernst, current board president, said of Carpenter, “He was the consummate professional, and always did it the right way.”
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