They came from all parts of town and beyond to celebrate with Bob DeLeo at the Winthrop Yacht Club last Friday night. There was a standing room only crowd on hand to congratulate Bob DeLeo on his ascension to the position of speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Our Through the Years column this week mentions that it was 30 years ago this week that Bob’s political career got started with his election to the Winthrop Board of Selectmen. His huge vote in that election set him apart as one of the most popular and hardest working officeholders in our town’s history. We remember him for his service as a coach in the Winthrop Little League, his announcing of Winthrop basketball games, his annual donation of a pre-game dinner for the football team, as well as his involvement in so many other town activities and events.
Although he has received the endorsement of his colleagues in the House for one of the most visible and powerful political positions in Massachusetts, we still will think of Bob as the same level-headed, common sense man in the street person we have known for decades.