RUMFORD — Selectman Michael Peter Chase, who died on Aug. 25 was named Thursday as Rumford’s 2022 Citizen of the Year.

Before nearly 20 town employees attending the Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Chairman Chris Brennick said Chase, over his three terms as a selectman, “made a lasting difference on a local level.”

After noting Chase was a 25-year firefighter, a volunteer in the community, served on the Charter Commission shaping the town government, the Planning Board and the County Budget Committee, Brennick said, “No one was more fitting to be this year’s Rumford’s Citizen of the Year. He lived his life well and had an impact on his community.”

Accepting the honor were family members wife Rhonda, son Kevin, son Bob and daughter Michelle Gosselin.

Rhonda said, “Peter loved the town of Rumford. He loved his home town. He took his commitments to the town and the county very seriously. He spent hours and hours studying proposals and projects, information and researched to make the best and most informed decision he could make to most benefit the town.”

She said, “He loved serving on the Board of Selectmen. He loved the people in the Town Office. After he retired, this gave him a sense of purpose, and he was contributing to the town that he really loved. We’d go out for a ride, and he’d take a detour because he wanted to check on how this project or that project was going. … He always had his mind on doing his best for the town of Rumford.”

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