Memorial spot will honor late Selectman Jerald Mayhew
BELLINGHAM –A memorial bench honoring the late Selectman Jerald M. Mayhew will be unveiled at a special ceremony Saturday.
The ceremony will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Municipal Center, 10 Mechanic St. Town officials and members of Mayhew’s family will be on hand to honor the former longtime selectman who died Dec. 26 at the age of 80 after a lengthy illness.
A celebration of life collation will follow at Pete’s Bluebird Restaurant. All residents are invited to attend the ceremony and collation.
A native of Wisconsin, Mayhew, who lived in Bellingham for 51 years, was a selectman for 21 years and also served the town as a park commissioner and assessor. Mayhew first ran for Selectman in 1995, won election that year and was successful on six other occasions.
Mayhew was first elected to the board in 1995 and would go on to serve six more terms. The only time he lost a race for selectman was in 2007 when he finished behind Dawn Davies. However, a year later in 2008, he returned to the board after garnering the most votes in a three-way race against Mary Chaves and Ron Picard.
A military graduate of St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, Mayhew earned a business management degree in economics and finance. During his active duty in the U.S. Army, he was a tactical unit commander in the infantry.
Professionally, Mayhew worked in sales as an independent businessman, traveling extensively around the globe for companies that included Kimberly-Clark, New Balance, and Franklin Sports. Locally, he operated a coffee shop at Khoury Plaza and worked at the Coachmen’s and Grumpy’s.
He was a also a member of the Bellingham Republican Town Committee and the Bellingham Business Association, and served on numerous ad-hoc committees during his tenure as a selectman.
An avid Green Bay Packers fan, Mayhew is credited with helping Bellingham High start a varsity ice hockey team by promoting and working with Bellingham’s Youth Hockey Program that began in 1969. He served as the group’s president and director. He also was president of Little League Baseball for two years.
Mayhew is survived by two sons and a daughter, Dan, Robert and Julie; six grandchildren; and two great grandsons.