LYNNFIELD — He’s back.
Fred Santangelo, who stepped down from the L.I.F.E. Inc. Board of Directors after L.I.F.E.’s Colonial Village housing complex at MarketStreet was completed in 2015, has agreed to serve another term on the board.
The Select Board appointed Santangelo by a unanimous vote Sept. 12, filling a vacancy created by Joe Maney, who declined to seek another term.
“I thought it was a nice time to come back as I am very interested in the future of what’s going on,” Santangelo said. “I like to stay involved and believe we can use more elderly housing here in Lynnfield. I have a lot of interest in the town and like to help our elderly as we help our youth.”
Select Board Chair Phil Crawford said Santangelo is well known in the community for his service on several boards, most recently on the Council on Aging (COA).
“I can’t agree more with everyone that Fred will be more than welcome to be part of the L.I.F.E. board again,” said Crawford. “He is certainly well known to the Select Board and town. He was there (on the COA board) for many years and I know now that he is no longer on the Council on Aging, he would certainly like nothing more than to be back on the board.”
L.I.F.E., a non-profit corporation, is the owner, designer, developer, operator, and property manager of Center, Essex, and Colonial Villages.
Select Board Vice Chair Joe Connell said Santangelo’s “reputation speaks for itself.”
Santangelo served on the Council on Aging for about 20 years, working to expand programs for seniors. He said that after things slowed down during the pandemic, he felt it was the right time to step away.
“I like to stay active and at the time all I was really contributing was signing bills and some paperwork,” Santangelo said. “I felt there was more that I could do, so when Sal (Yerardi) and Bruce Siegel called and said they had an opening, I jumped at it.
Santangelo also previously served on the Personnel Board and the Public Works Support Committee. In 2020, he was honored for his many years of selfless service to the town with the Fourth Annual Daniel Townsend Award for Excellence. That award is given to a member of the community who goes above and beyond in helping to make Lynnfield a better place.
Santangelo and his wife, Gloria, moved to Lynnfield in 1962, where together they raised their two sons. He was a football player and track and field standout at Lynn Classical High School and a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He played football on an athletic scholarship at Wake Forest University and later returned to Classical to serve as a line coach. He was an active volunteer in Lynnfield youth sports as a football and baseball coach and he also served on the Lynnfield Junior Sports Board of Directors.
Santangelo also excelled professionally as a manager for AVCO, later Textron, working on defense systems such as the Minuteman missile. A parishioner and eucharistic minister at St. Maria Goretti Church, Santangelo is also a past grand knight at the Lynn Council #70 Knights of Columbus.
Fellow parishioner and Select Board member Dick Dalton said he is “delighted” to know that Santangelo is “back involved in the town.
“He served the town very well for many years,” Dalton said. “He will be a great addition to the L.I.F.E. board.”
Santangelo, 91, said he has another reason why he returned to serve on the board.
“It gets me out of the house so Gloria and I can stay friendly,” he joked.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
