In Memory of Francis M. Meeks III

The city has lost an iconic figure with the passing of Francis M. Meeks III.

Mr. Meeks was born here, graduated from Plainfield High School, founded and conducted a successful business for 36 years,and then served as a member of the City Council for 15 years. He died Oct. 1 at the age of 95. His devotion to the city and its people will be long remembered.

I got to know Mr. Meeks when I began covering City Council meetings for the weekly newspaper Plainfield Today in the early 1980s. He always reviewed his packet ahead of time and elicited more information, if needed, before voting on any matter. He also made sure any typos were corrected and that rules of parliamentary procedure were followed. He set a very high standard as an elected legislator and made exemplary constituent service his hallmark.

If all this makes him sound rather staid, let me assure you he had a wicked sense of humor and the joie de vivre of a much younger man when I knew him. He looked at life in Plainfield without blinders and did what he could to make it better.

Mr. Meeks worked hard for the Republican Party locally and also found his political acumen appreciated at the state level. He, along with former Republican council members Donna Vose and Jon Bramnick, left an enduring legacy of service to Plainfield.

On a personal note, when I was living on Putnam Avenue and working as a reporter, I had a sciatica attack that left me debilitated and in great pain. Mr. Meeks found out about it and convinced me to let him take me to a chiropractor he knew in Fanwood. I hesitated, thinking it might be a breach of the journalists' code. But then I  realized Mr. Meeks saw it only as helping a Second Ward constituent in need and expected nothing more than the satisfaction of doing so.  It was a great lesson to me to accept his help on that basis, rather than to suffer alone.

My sincere condolences to`Anita and the Meeks family on the passing of a great man and a faithful Plainfielder.

--Bernice