‘No’ not in her DNA: Joyce Chunglo leaving a 36-year legacy in Hadley politics

HADLEY — If there’s been one constant in town politics over the last 36 years, it’s Joyce Chunglo.

The 53-year town resident has, since 1988, had a voice in decisions both big and small over tenures first on the School Committee for 15 years followed by a 21-year stint on the Select Board. This week, she officially leaves the town “family” she’s been a part of for much of her time in Hadley.

But as Chunglo bids adieu, she is quick to note that credit for any success needs to be shared with many individuals, from her colleagues on the municipal boards to the people hired to do the day-to-day work, including town administrators and school superintendents, reflecting her mantra on the importance of working together.

“Whenever you’re on a committee, you’re just one person,” Chunglo said during a recent interview. “You always keep in mind you’re not the whole, and that you’ve got to work as a team to get things done.”

Chunglo names several highlights of initiatives she’s helped shape during her time as an elected official. Among those are enhanced police, fire and ambulance service, the continued vitality of the town’s commercial corridor, a consolidated elementary school that opened in 1996 and a North Hadley fire substation that began operating in 2021.

Chunglo, first elected to the School Committee in 1988 and to the Select Board in 2003, has also spent 54 years as a nurse working for Cooley Dickinson Hospital. It is her work in the medical field, and with members of her family who are firefighters, that has likely fueled her interest in having public safety departments that meet the community’s needs.

“I wanted to progress what we had and move it into the future,” she said.

That has happened, she said, under Fire Chief Michael Spanknebel, who has brought the department from part-time call firefighters to a full-time department, and under Police Chief Mike Mason, who has helped professionalize the force.

“It makes me proud to get to this point, but it takes a lot of people, and there are so many good people who give their all to these things,” Chunglo said.

Chunglo said she championed the fire substation due to the growth in high-end homes in that part of town. “I think we needed a fire station up there. It’s a good building and was done well,” Chunglo said.

Her advocacy has included keeping Route 9 the business district and ensuring a tax base to support the town’s needs, and then adopting the Community Preservation Act surcharge, which has helped the town to save farmland and protect natural resources.

Chunglo also compliments the current financial team at Town Hall and town administrators she helped to hire, David Nixon and Carolyn Brennan. “You put people into the positions that you don’t have to micromanage,” Chunglo said.

Service begins

When she wanted to become more involved in her children’s education, she got on the School Committee, after previously helping lead the booster club, coaching seventh and eighth grade basketball alongside longtime resident Dutchie Tudryn, being the cheering coach for two years and doing other volunteering.

“No was never part of my vocabulary,” Chunglo said.

In her initial political campaign, she formed a team with fellow parent Joyce West, and together they used the slogan “Joyces are the choices” to win seats on the committee.

She was involved in the planning for the new elementary school, a building where students continue to learn, that led to the closure of the aging Hooker and Russell schools. Other projects from her time on the School Committee have continued to pay dividends, such as buying farmland near Hopkins Academy more than 20 years ago that has allowed current school officials to undertake a project to improve the softball and baseball diamonds and other playing fields there.

“It’s the little things that make you feel good,” Chunglo said.

During her time on the School Committee, she worked with superintendents Richard Sullivan, Anne Finck and Nick Young, who she praised for leadership and achievements such as launching AP courses, fiscal stability and eventually School Choice, which shows the district is a desirable place to learn.

“I don’t think there’s a better school system around,” Chunglo said. That is also reflected by the passion of the students, recalling that when there were funding challenges one year, a student walkout made a direct appeal to her by coming to greet her at her driveway, just as she was returning from a shift at the hospital.

“The kids are going to be our future. They will be running our town,” Chunglo said, adding that it’s a great tribute that so many leave but then return to raise families in Hadley.

Chunglo said she’s tried her best to work with colleagues but also credits the legislators as being thoroughly engaged, including state Rep. Dan Carey and current Sen. Jo Comerford. “She’s the best senator we’ve had, she’s been available to us and takes time. She’s so responsive,” Chunglo said.

“They make it worthwhile because when you have legislators behind you, you get things done,” Chunglo said.

Molly Keegan, who currently chairs the Select Board, has served alongside Chunglo for several years.

“I always appreciated the fact she was very clear in her positions and was never afraid to speak her mind based on her convictions,” Keegan said. “Everything Joyce did was, in her heart, based on what was best for the town.”

Mason began working in town as a police officer before becoming the department’s chief, knowing her as liaison.

“I can say unequivocally that I have yet to meet anyone who has found a more effective way to care equally for both the employees and the town they serve,” Mason said. “She has often referred to us as her officers or her firefighters, and this has always engendered trust and loyalty among the staff.”

At her final meeting on May 15, colleague Randy Izer read a proclamation noting Chunglo’s move to town in 1971 after marrying Dan Chunglo. The proclamation extended appreciation for her, and notes that “she has earned the respect of all with whom she has come in contact, and the love and affection of a host of friends.”

That followed proclamations from the state Senate and House given at annual Town Meeting, and the dedication of the annual town report.

“They keep throwing these zingers continually at me for the last two weeks,” Chunglo quipped at the meeting.

She was then able to put the shoe on the other foot by giving Mason and Spanknebel citations for their service.

Chunglo sees the town like a large family, and a trademark of her service has been concluding each meeting by paying tribute to those residents who have recently died. “Everybody’s so proud of the community working, and we should all be together,” Chunglo said.

In one of her final acts, she sought a designation for Hadley to become a Purple Heart Town, a recognition that will come this summer. Stepping off the board will mean the first time she is not walking in Sunday’s Memorial Day parade since 1987, and she will have more time to enjoy on the beach in Salisbury with her husband and daughter Sara and son Daniel.

In leaving, the friendships she has made are what will be memorable. “I think most I’ll miss the camaraderie with people,” Chunglo said.