CUMMINGTON — Monica Vandoloski, a political trailblazer who devoted her life to serving the people of Cummington, died Tuesday as a result of heart failure. She was 80 years old.
“The amount of information that left us Tuesday is irreplaceable,” said Raymond Vandoloski, her only child.
Vandoloski made history in 1979 when she became the first woman elected to the Cummington Select Board. Over the course of three stints, she served 25 years on the board, choosing not to run for reelection this year, although she continued to serve the town as administrative secretary.
However, Vandoloski was far more than just a politician.
“She took care of everybody else,” said town resident Jane Adams.
Adams’ husband, Bill Adams, served for a time with Vandoloski on the Select Board, and he described her as “an absolute resource of information relative to the functions of the town.”
“She was a force to be reckoned with,” Bill Adams said. “Naturally she was right most of the time.”
Kenneth “Trudge” Howes, a current selectman who served with Vandoloski, described her death as “very upsetting.”
“She was an icon in Cummington,” he said. “She did a lot that people didn’t realize she did.”
Select Boards have relied on Vandoloski even when she wasn’t a member, he said, and while she would have her opinions, she would make sure to listen to both sides of an issue.
For his mother, Raymond Vandoloski said, public service “wasn’t a job, it was a passion.”
“Her entire life revolved around a community of, what, 800 people?” he said.
He also noted how his mother made the many aspects of town government work.
“She was able to move the pieces, and make the pieces fit,” he said. “But it was a constant job.”
Vandoloski grew up in Hadley and moved to Cummington in 1969 with her husband, Raymond Vandoloski Sr., after becoming familiar with the community through his hobby of raccoon hunting. A former police chief in Cummington, he died in 2007.
Their son spoke about how his mother loved to help others.
“She loved being on call for help,” he said. “She was eager to help people or the town.” So much so that “she would never say no,” he said. “She would never turn the phone off.”
However, he said that being so active may have been what kept her going and may also have been what wore her out.
“It’s a very, very, very fine line,” he said.
And he noted that his mother was reluctant to ask for anyone’s help. “She just hated to be any type of burden to anybody,” he said.
Raymond Vandoloski also related how his mother was still using a chainsaw at the age of 80.
He said he will miss how his mother was always there for him, and her cooking.
“You could never leave the house hungry,” he said, recalling people stopping by her house for directions and leaving with cookies.
In addition to her work in Cummington’s government, Vandoloski worked for the Hampshire Registry of Deeds for 23 years, was involved in 4-H with her son, was a Cub Scout leader, and served as an active EMT for more than 20 years, choosing to be on call alongside her husband.
“She was a homebody,” her son said. “Ninety percent of her activities were within town boundaries.”
Karen Rida, the secretary for the Hillside Agricultural Society, which runs the Cummington Fair, said Vandoloski did a lot of volunteering at the fair.
“She was a real townsperson,” Rida said.
Often, her son noted, Vandoloski would be the person who would help family members put affairs in order after their spouses died. “It was what she did,” he said. “Now it’s reverse roles.”
A wake for Vandoloski will be held at Czelusniak Funeral Home this Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and donations to the Cummington Fire Association can be made in lieu of flowers.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.