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Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Salem City Councillor and former State Fire Marshal Joseph O’Keefe Sr. passed away yesterday at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, surrounded by his family. He was 82.
Councillor O’Keefe, the dean of the 11-member Salem City Council, was elected to the Ward 7 seat in 2000, but served prior to that as the Ward 2 councillor from 1962 to 1973 and on the Salem School Committee from 1975 to 1979.
O’Keefe had also served as a member of the MMA Board of Directors.
He was the state fire marshal from 1977 to 1992, where he was a strong advocate for stronger fire and building codes as well as better laws on smoke alarms and fire sprinklers.
O’Keefe was a lector at Immaculate Conception Church of Salem and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1524. He held a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree in fire safety technology from Oklahoma State University.
“We want to say thank you to everyone who wrote, called, or reached out over the difficult last few days,” the O’Keefe family stated. “Joe was a man of integrity, who thought of others before himself and never hesitated to speak his mind. He served the public and his country with honor and distinction, but never lost perspective of what mattered most: his family.”
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said she is “deeply saddened” by the passing of O’Keefe.
“Joe was a dear friend and colleague, someone whose warmth and generosity were unmatched,” she said. “In everything he did, everything said, and every action he took, Joe always put the people of Salem first. His compassionate and energetic voice will be missed on the Council, in City Hall, and throughout our city.”
A wake will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, with a funeral mass scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, at 10 a.m. Both the wake and funeral will be held at Immaculate Conception Church, 30 Union St., in Salem and are open to the public.