Saugus officials remember longtime community staple

SAUGUS – Peter Bogdan was a familiar sight around Saugus.He could be found at the Zoning Board of Appeals, Town Meeting, the Council on Aging or as a fixture at the Saugus Senior Center. Bogdan died Saturday at 82, and on Tuesday town officials remembered the longtime Saugus resident as dedicated and selfless.Selectman Debra Panetta served on Town Meeting with Bogdan. He served there 34 years, and she said he “cared deeply about Saugus.”?He was a strong advocate for community service and transparency in government,” said Panetta. “I enjoyed serving on Town Meeting with Peter, and was very happy he received the Person of the Year award last year. He will surely be missed.”A resident of Saugus since 1958, Bogdan made it his duty to give back to the town in any way he could. Bogdan served on the town?s Charter Study Committee and the Senior Citizen?s Association. A retired member of the National Guard, he was a member of several military organizations, including the Lawrence Light Guard Association, V.F.W. Post 1011, American Legion Post 210, the 2nd Corps of Cadets, the Peabody Veterans Council, the Portuguese American War Veterans Post 1, the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, and the Yankee Division Veterans Association.Bogdan also served his country and was a member of the Massachusetts National Guard from 1947 to 1964, when he resigned as a captain. Bogdan rejoined the National Guard in 1973 as a full-time technician until his retirement in 1990.Last year Bogdan was named Saugus? Person of the Year and in a brief speech at Town Hall, summed up his dedication to the town.?If you see something that needs to be done, just do it,” he said.Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian said Bogdan was always “very much involved and engaged in the goings on in the town.”?He was a very analytic mind and was very thorough in his approach,” said Manoogian. “There aren?t too many Peter Bogdans around. He?s going to be missed. He was very valuable on the Board of Appeals and would go to all the locations to visit and to see the sights. It?s just a loss.”A statement from the Saugus Senior Center said Bogdan?s role there can “never be replaced and his many influences here will never be forgotten.”?From his limitless volunteering, serving on both the Zoning Board of Appeals and as a Town Meeting member for over 30 years, to our own board of directors and Senior Center Association, Peter?s multiple contributions are too innumerable to measure,” said the statement. “Peter?s love for this community and our senior center was always apparent, and his selfless devotion to bettering our community – for not only seniors, but for all people – never faltered.”Town Moderator Robert Long called Bogdan?s death “stunning,” noting he just saw him in June at an American Legion breakfast.?He truly was one of those guys that said what he felt and felt what he said,” said Long. “He was always a very straight guy with me and very accessible. I liked Peter a lot. He had very good values … Everybody knew that Peter researched things and really did his work to find out how things ran. He?s going to be a loss ? the steadiness and the love for the community and the integrity of the guy, it?s tough to lose somebody like that.”Selectman Stephen Horlick emphasized the time and effort Bogdan put into veterans? issues, including regular trips to Europe to visit graves of soldiers from World War II.?And he?s been an inspiration down at the Senior Center with his wife, Shirley. They were always active,” said Horlick. “He?s just somebody that doesn?t come around that often. He has left a mark on Saugus and it?s been an exceptional positive mark on the town of Saugus.”Town Manager Scott Crabtree said Bogdan will be “sadly missed but never forgotten by everyone in Saugus.”?Peter made considerable changes and lasting contributions to Saugus through his decades of dedication and volunteerism serving the community in many elected, appointed and volunteer