SPRINGFIELD — Two longtime Springfield political figures have died recently: Martin T. Reilly, a former state senator from the Hampden district, and Rudolph J. Chmura, who served seven terms as a state representative.
Reilly, a Wilbraham resident, was the youngest person elected to the state Senate when he was elected by voters at age 24 in 1981. He had defeated incumbent Sen. Stanley J. Zarod for the seat .
Former Springfield Mayor Michael Albano, who was on the city’s school committee at the time, recalled working with Reilly on a law providing for drug-free school zones in the community.
“He and I worked hard on it. It seemed to be perpetually moving, it never seemed to stop,” Albano laughed. “He was really a visionary. He wanted to make the Westover base an international airport. He got a lot of flack for that. He was also one of the early proponents of wind farms in the Cape, and that goes back maybe 20 years.
Reilly was also very dedicated to constituent service while in office, Albano said.
“If you called his office with a problem, he would have someone get back to you within an hour or two,” Albano said. “That was very important to him.”
Paul Caron served in the House at the same time Reilly was in the Senate. He agreed with Albano’s assessment of the former senator.
“We worked together on issues in our district, and he was very intense with the work. He loved it and he did well, but he was always on the go,” Caron said. “We were both in our twenties at the time. All our contemporaries had been there for 30 or 40 years, and we were the new kids on the block. We went out every night at events in the district, and that became the hallmark of our time in the Legislature.”
Reilly served four full terms before leaving the Senate in 1989 when Republican Brian Lees was impeached. Reilly moved to Cape Cod, where he became a lobbyist.
He died Friday at Cape Cod Hospital. He was 68 years old.
A native of the city
Chmura was a native of Springfield and grew up working at the family’s bakery and farm, eventually becoming co-owner of both. He was a veteran of the Korean War.
Chmura was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1969 and served seven consecutive terms in office. He was appointed chairman of the House Committee on Audit and Subsequent Oversight from 1979 to 1981.
After resigning from the Legislature in 1981 and 1982, Chmura was appointed deputy superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, a position he held until 1990 when he was selected as superintendent of the facility. He held this position until his retirement in 1997.
Chmura later moved to Nashua, New Hampshire, where he died on June 30. He was 91 years old.
