HANSON — The family of Mary Margaret “Gret” Lozeau, who died Dec. 20, 2018, leaving a legacy of community service, accepted honors in her memory during the special Town Meeting on Monday, Oct. 7.
Gret’s husband Gerry Lozeau and her daughter, Teresa Santalucia, were presented with a state flag — flown over the State House in her honor — as well as citations from the Board of Selectmen and the General Court.
“The Hanson Board of Selectmen takes this means to express its most sincere appreciation to Mary “Gret” Lozeau in official recognition of one who is gone too soon, but has left the town of Hanson and the world a better place,” Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett read from the board’s citation.
Gret Lozeau was honored as an educator, both in the classroom and her church, and for her support of numerous civic organizations and as a library trustee.
“Her love of people, family and community was ever-present and lived on today,” FitzGerald-Kemmett read from the citation. “The board also thanks the Lozeau family for selflessly sharing such a remarkable woman who has given so much of herself to others.”
State Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, and state Sen, Mike Brady, D-Brockton, made the presentation on behalf of the General Court.
“I had the distinct pleasure of knowing Gret Lozeau,” Cutler said. “She was very kind to me, personally, in fact one of my first introductions to the town of Hanson was the [annual carol sing at] Red Acres Farm.”
He said her passing was a great loss to the town as well as her family.
Born in 1945, she moved to Hanson with her family in 1950, attended Sacred Heart Elementary-High School in Kingston and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and a master’s in education from the State College of Boston.
“Gret was a dedicated life-long teacher on many levels and a variety of settings,” Cutler said. She was a member of the Kiwanis Club and a sponsor of the Hanson Middle School Builders Club. She was also an active sports enthusiast, in racketball, skiing and tennis.
A life-long member of St. Joseph the Worker Church, she served as a sodality board member and religious education teacher.
“I think her service, certainly, will not be forgotten,” Cutler said.
“If Rep. Cutler and myself did half the things Gret did, we’d have a place reserved in heaven where we know she is right now,” Brady said. “We’re grateful for all she’s given to this community.”
A moment of silence was also held at the beginning of the Town Meeting in memory of Highway Surveyor Robert Brown, Laura Haas, Ronald H. Oullette, Mary Lyon, Patricia Strait and Sheila Ward, who passed away in recent months, in honor of their contributions to the town.
The Town Meeting also honored the membory of an 8-year-old girl who recently died.