ORANGE – Richard Sheridan, a longtime public servant whose Selectboard tenure ended in January, died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack on April 29. He was 78.

Selectboard members on Wednesday held a moment of silence for their former colleague and Chair Tom Smith praised Sheridan’s commitment to the town.

“Richard was a unique person. He will be greatly missed. He and I could argue but we could also be friends, which is kind of a hard thing,” Smith said. “Richard loved the town of Orange. He fought very hard for the town of Orange and he dedicated a lot of time to the town of Orange, and I will miss seeing him at the meetings.”

A handful of Sheridan’s friends, all wearing black to indicate mourning, attended part of Wednesday’s Selectboard meeting. During the portion designated for public comment, Michael Sinclair read a poem Sheridan penned exactly one month before he died. The five-stanza poem attacks the “oligarchy” that runs Orange and “the few” who supposedly work to destroy it.

“Well I guess it’s the end of my rant / Giving up on freedom … I’m afraid I can’t / Tell them you want to be heard / Stop treating us as some kind of turd,” the poem ends.

Sheridan had served on the Selectboard, the Planning Board, the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation and the Orange Armory. He also owned small businesses and worked as a mechanic, a contractor and a real estate agent.

Friend Sandra Fawn Weinstein said she spoke with Sheridan just 24 hours before his death.

“It’s going to make these meetings much more boring, for sure,” Weinstein told the Greenfield Recorder after leaving the meeting.

“Less colorful,” Ann Reed added before addressing Sinclair. “Well, Mike, the fact that you read his poem tonight means that he even made this meeting.”

Moments before the start of Sheridan’s final Special Town Meeting in January, Reed read a prepared statement thanking him for his decades of dedication, and Denise Andrews, who once represented Orange in the state Legislature, presented him with an official citation. Sheridan looked surprised and humbled by the acknowledgments and thanked everyone in the audience.

“I’ll still be around,” he said. “I’ll be on the other side, causing problems.”

On Wednesday, Reed said it now feels prophetic and cryptic that Sheridan mentioned “the other side.”

Sheridan was known being a stickler for the rules and his libertarian leanings. He had also made it his mission to save the 111-year-old Orange Armory from demolition, arguing it is structurally sound and salvageable. In his final Selectboard meeting, on Jan. 31, he warned his colleagues against denying access to the building to members of the Armory Commission.

“If this board is going to decide not to let anyone from the Armory Commission go into that building, it’s my last night here, but it’s not my last day on the Armory Commission — I’ll be back,” he said. He had opted not to seek reelection to his Selectboard position in January’s Town Election.

Before adjourning the Jan. 31 meeting, Selectboard members thanked Sheridan for his decades of service to Orange. Member Jane Peirce said the two of them had a combined roughly 100 years of municipal experience on town boards and committees. She mentioned the public perception that she and Sheridan disliked each other, but said that was not true. She stressed that their disagreements – which on occasion became heated – were simply the result of their differing opinions on what is best for the town they love.

“I think that the two of us have done some really good work over the years,” Peirce said. “The fact is, as a human being, the guy has a heart of gold and he is probably one of the kindest and most caring individuals you will ever find in this town or anywhere else. When we argue, when I don’t agree with him, it’s because we differ philosophically in our ideas about policy and political philosophy and everything else, but I truly love the guy.

“And I will miss having you here,” she said, turning to Sheridan, “just so I can prove you wrong over and over again, as I so often do.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.