More than 100 people gathered in the Danvers High School Auditorium Tuesday morning to say goodbye to to Wayne Marquis. Wayne was a long time town manager who left an unforgettable mark on the community.
Wayne died on June 8 following a battle with cancer. The sudden loss, his friends and former colleagues said, is insurmountable.
“He has to be the most influential person in the history of the town,” said Town Moderator Patricia Fraizer.
Marquis started his career in town government in 1975, when he was a volunteer intern in the town manager’s office and reorganized community development, health recreations and the senior center into the town’s Planning and Human Services Department.
He was appointed interim assistant town manager from 1976 to 1977, then became assistant town manager in 1977. Two years later, he was hired as the town manager, a role he served in until his retirement in 2014.
“Wayne was a gentleman, a professional, and we were lucky to have such strong leadership,” state Rep. Sally Kerans said. “You cannot overstate the many ways in which he left his mark on Danvers.”
He brought the town’s municipal light division into the 21st century, stopping outages that had become all too familiar to Danvers residents. The town saw every one of its municipal buildings and athletic fields either constructed or renovated under his tenure, and his vast knowledge gave Danvers a sense of financial security that remains today, said Michael Landers, a member of the town’s Finance Committee and a former Danvers Select Board member.
His accomplishments are too long to list in full. But what his colleagues remember the most, they said, was the calm and honest way he served the residents of Danvers.
Select Board member Gardner Trask said he remembered seeing this in action after the Danversport chemical explosion in 2006, which destroyed more than 20 homes in the neighborhood just a day before Thanksgiving.
“I remember going down to the port immediately after it happened and he was already there in command, directing action to minimize the impact on the neighbors,” Trask said. “His first concern was the residents.”
Marquis treated everyone with kindness and respect no matter who they were, Kerans said. Landers added that it would be hard to find a former Select Board member who would have a negative thing to say about him.
“Even those people who disagreed with his policy decisions, they knew he was doing what he thought was best for the town,” Landers said.
Marquis’ presence was a calm one. He never raised his voice and always respected everyone’s opinions, Trask said.
“He did what he felt was the right thing to do and often the right thing is not popular, and the popular thing is not right, but he always guided Danvers through those waters,” Trask said.
Select Board member Daniel Bennett said he often saw this during meetings with different groups over the years.
“He was a calming presence to help build consensus,” Bennett said. “He was always very helpful in seeing both sides of an issue and finding a solution.”
Marquis was never one to make a political stance or take part in partisan squabbles. He led with a strong moral compass and was an honest man to his core, former Select Board member Bill Clark said.
“He wouldn’t even take a cup of coffee without paying for it. He led a very honest town government,” Clark said.
Landers was a selectman when his father, Richard Landers, was appointed as Danvers’ police chief in 1999 at Marquis’ recommendation.
“Nobody questioned my dad’s appointment as a political appointment because no one thought Wayne would be affected by political pressure,” he said.
This even trickled into his sense of humor, Landers added.
“The police chief at the time when I was on the board dealt with dog issues in town,” Landers said. “I went to Wayne and said that since my dad is technically the prosecutor of this, I’m going to have to recuse myself, and he said, ‘Of course you are.’
“He had an interesting sense of humor, a dry sense of humor, but it was warm nonetheless,” Landers said.
Marquis was more than a politician. He was a family man who loved his wife Nancy, his daughters Jennifer and Kathryn and his grandchildren, and lived in Danvers all of his life.
He even was the lead singer of a rock band called “Tyler Mudge” when he was at Danvers High School, which he graduated from in 1971.
“Sometimes I’d bring up that he had been in the band and I would get a chuckle out of him,” Kerans said.
Marquis loved Tom Brady and the Patriots, so much so that he would often text or call town Recreation Director David Mountain before, during and after games to talk about their thoughts on the team.
“He was just a really special person,” Mountain said. “He was my boss, my mentor and my friend.”
He added that Thursday was “a sad day at Town Hall.” Danvers Select Board member David Mills agreed.
“In my entire life, I’ve seen no one in government that has been more respected than Wayne Marquis,” Mills said.
Current Town Manager Steve Bartha said Marquis was always there to support him after taking over the role in 2014, and would gladly lend an ear when Bartha needed someone to talk through issues with.
“It’s an enormous loss,” Bartha said. “It’s really hard to think about Danvers without thinking about Wayne, his legacy and his accomplishments.”
Taken from Salem News of June 13 – reporting by Caroline Enos – staff writer