BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Loved ones and Brockton community members bid farewell Thursday to Mayor Bill Carpenter, who died suddenly at the age of 62 earlier this month.
Carpenter’s body is lying in state at the Brockton City Hall rotunda Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. following a procession of his casket from Russell & Pica Funeral Home on Belmont Street.
Mourners gathered outside his wake Thursday to remember a man they say did so much for the city.
“Bill Carpenter was like a dear friend.” Antonine Louis said. “He supported the Haitian community. For every event, he was always there. We love him so much, he is going to be missed.”
“He did more for us than anyone,” Steven Clay said. “To lose a mayor like this, to me, people that are handicapped, to the elderly, in Brockton, it is going to be devastating. Whoever takes over, hopefully, can fill the role.”
The three-term mayor was found unresponsive in a vehicle parked at the Arnone School around 7:30 a.m. on July 3, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said.
He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Carpenter first won a seat on the school committee when his son became addicted to drugs. He went on to be a mayor focused on battling the opioid crisis.
He was planning on running for a fourth term.
A funeral service will be held on Friday at 11 a.m. in the Brockton High School auditorium.
His burial is private.
The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is working to determine an exact cause and manner of death.
Foul play is not suspected.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)