Brockton Remembers Mayor Bill Carpenter In Funeral At High School
BROCKTON (CBS) — Hundreds of people came to the Brockton High School auditorium Friday for the public funeral for Mayor Bill Carpenter.
Carpenter died suddenly July 3 after he was found unresponsive in his SUV outside the Arnone School where he just dropped off his grandson for a summer program. He was 62 years old.
Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said the medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death, but foul play is not suspected. The mayor's chief of staff Nick Giaquinto said Carpenter had a cardiac catherization recently and had two stents put in.
Carpenter was elected back in 2013 and had just launched a re-election campaign for a fourth term.
He leaves behind his partner Juli Caldwell, six children and six grandchildren.
"He was not a politician, but a people person," Bill Carpenter IV said. "He treated everyone the same and when he said something, he meant it."
The mayor had lived in Brockton, known to some as the "city of champions" for it's boxing history, for 32 years.
"In the end, what he was most of all was a son of Brockton and a champion. And I'll tell you something, that's a champion I'm going to miss," Gov. Charlie Baker told the audience Friday.
They say half the people in Brockton had his cell phone number and the other half knew where his front door was. Bill Carpenter was that dedicated to the people of Brockton.
"And believe me when I tell you this man literally worked about 20 hours a day," said Nick Giaquinto, Carpenter's Chief of Staff. "Trust me I know, I tried to match his pace."
Hundreds of mourners came to Brockton City Hall Thursday where Carpenter's body laid in state outside the mayor's office.
Carpenter will be buried in a private service Monday.
