Published in the April 27, 2018 edition
MELROSE — One of the most loyal, dedicated municipal employees in the city’s history is calling it a career.
City Clerk Mary-Rita O’Shea, a lifelong Melrose resident, officially retires on Monday.
The aldermen recognized her distinguished time in City Hall with a resolution on Mary-Rita’s nearly 40 years of service to her hometown.
The resolution reads:
MARY-RITA O’SHEA
“Mary-Rita O’Shea has served the City of Melrose in various capacities since 1968, she will be retiring on April 30, 2018 as the City Clerk. The Board of Aldermen congratulates Mary-Rita O’Shea for her years of dedicated service to the City of Melrose; and
“Mary-Rita O’Shea is a dedicated and loving wife to her husband, and veteran, Daniel Francis O’Shea with whom she helped raise their son Daniel Francis O’Shea, Jr.
“Mary-Rita O’Shea is a lifelong resident of Melrose, born at the Melrose Hospital; the youngest of six sisters and an identical twin to Donna Shay. Having attended schools in Melrose, starting first in kindergarten at the Lincoln School and then from first through twelfth grade at St. Mary’s of the Annunciation School.
“Mary-Rita O’Shea began skiing at the age of 12 (and) it quickly became her favorite recreational activity. She would later become a member of the Melrose Hickory Hawk Ski Club in North Conway, NH and spent many weekends skiing and staying at the Train Station bunkhouse.
“Mary-Rita, a devoted Catholic and practitioner of her faith, has volunteered her time to teach CCD at St. Mary’s parish to generations of our children in the community.
“In her professional life, Mary Rita’s career path began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology electronics research laboratory. Seeking a higher purpose to give back to her community, she began her storied career in City Hall first working as a secretary to Mayor Thomas F. Sullivan in 1968 and continuing until 1984 under Mayor James Milano. In 1984, Mary Rita, was elected as Clerk of Committees to the Board of Aldermen and served in this capacity for the next two and a half years. At that time, she left for 11 years to raise her son, Danny. Mary-Rita returned to City Hall in 1997 as Assistant City Clerk. Mary- Rita would rise to become our City Clerk in 2001 and has held that position ever since.
“Mary-Rita endeavored upon numerous projects during her nearly 40 years of service to the City of Melrose. Some of her noteworthy accomplishments include: re-codifying the Melrose City Ordinances both 2002 & 2017, becoming one of the first communities in the Commonwealth to use the Mass Laser Electronic Birth Program, and the Electronic Marriage Program, and implementing new software for the processing birth records and electronic death registration system.
“(Whereas) the Melrose Board of Aldermen shows its appreciation for her institutional knowledge both inside and outside of the Aldermanic Chamber, as well as her and her family’s dedication to a multitude of Melrose civic organizations; and therefore
“(Be It Resolved), we, the members of the Board of Aldermen, wholeheartedly thank Mary-Rita O’Shea for her professionalism and friendship over nearly four decades; and therefore
“(Be It Further Resolved) that on this 23rd day of April in the year Two Thousand and Eighteen, that this Resolution, signed by each of its members, be spread upon the records of the City of Melrose, and that a special copy thereof be prepared and presented to Mary-Rita O’Shea, City Clerk.”
