CHESTERFIELD — One of Chesterfield’s most beloved and respected community members was remembered last week with the planting of two trees in Russell Park.
On Friday, more than 40 people turned out to watch the planting of a red maple and a linden maple while swapping their favorite stories about Bill Jolly, who died on Aug. 4, 2015.
“It really meant a lot to me to know so many people loved Bill and that they keep him in their memories,” said his widow, Carol Jolly, who called the event bittersweet. “It’s sad because it has been a year and it is another reminder that he is gone, but it is also a very moving gesture of love.”
Jolly was an outdoor enthusiast who loved camping, hiking and always learning and sharing his knowledge about plants, wildlife and nature. Over the 10 years that he lived in Chesterfield, he was a member of the Conservation Commission and the Historical Society and chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and served as cemetery superintendent and town moderator.
“Bill had a regular chair that he used to sit in at our meetings. Nobody sits there now — we still keep it open for him,” said Ann Pickrell of the Conservation Commission. “We miss him a great deal.”
Right after Jolly’s death, resident and friend Kessie Warlow-Harry established the Bill Jolly Tree Fund and, together with the Conservation Commission, began to coordinate the tree planting.
“People really jumped on it and we had donations coming in from everywhere, including much of the Chesterfield community but also from Northampton, Washington state and New York,” Warlow-Harry said.
Jolly was born in 1941 and grew up on a dairy farm in New York. He earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management at Cornell University, which is where he met Carol. The couple married in 1965.
For over 40 years, Jolly worked in natural resource protection in Washington, D.C., Olympia,Washington, and Seattle, including policy work at the Library of Congress and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.
Jolly spent 20 years in the Pacific Northwest, and loved the ecology and wild character of the Olympic Peninsula. However with their two daughters and their families living in New England, the couple relocated to Chesterfield in 2006.
There, he quickly became known for his genuine desire to be of service to others.
“As well as being a naturalist, he was a human being with a huge heart and he brought that level of compassion to everything he did,” said Julia Freedgood, of South Street.
Warlow-Harry said that, as a friend and neighbor, Jolly could always be counted on to lend a helping hand.
“I’m a single woman and when I needed help with a job or project I would ask Bill and he would always come over and help me out,” Warlow-Harry said. “I felt special, until the day I was talking with some other women in town and found out he did that for all of them, too!”
The event was emotional for those in attendance. Dee Cinner, chairwoman of the Cemetery Commission, choked back tears when speaking of Jolly.
“He knew what he was doing and he did 10 times more work than most. He even used to fill the graves himself by hand, which takes about eight hours,” Cinner said. “He also advocated for natural burial in Chesterfield, and we became one of the first towns to have natural burial in western Mass.”
Select Board member Robert Recos described Jolly as someone who “gave 100 percent,” noting that he would have made a great selectman or legislator but he was too humble to campaign for himself and shunned being in the spotlight.
“I always said he should have run for public office, but Bill said there were two things he would never do — run for office or wear a tux,” Recos said with a chuckle. “But seriously, he was a super person to be with. They just don’t come like him anymore, or if they do, they are few and far between.”
Recos also noted that Jolly spearheaded the organization for the town’s 250th anniversary celebration.
Jolly’s ethic of service to others also carried over to his community of faith at Congregation B’nai Israel in Northampton, where he served several years on the synagogue’s Cemetery Commission.
“Carol is a very good friend of mine,” said Cleo Gorman, of Northampton, and a member of Congregation B’nai Israel. “When Bill and Carol first arrived in Chesterfield and at the synagogue, they just leapt right in and wanted to be of use.”
Arborist Alexandra “Boo” Chereau oversaw the planting of the trees. A group of volunteers will water the trees every day for a month.
According to Warlow-Harry, two or three more trees will be planted in Chesterfield cemeteries next spring.
“For 10 years this community has wrapped their arms around us, and this is a wonderful reflection of that,” Jolly said. “This was very meaningful to me, and to have these trees here where birds can sit and I can come and see them each day, it’s wonderful.”