Plaque Honoring Foxborough's Pete Turner to be Constructed, Unveiled at Town Hall

A 93-year-old, very dedicated public servant went to bed with a smile on his face Tuesday after Foxborough’s Board of Selectmen gave Town Historian Jack Authelet and Jonathan Turner its blessing on creating a plaque to honor longtime Foxborough resident and public servant, Pete Turner.

Pete Turner is Jonathan Turner’s grandfather and has served the town of Foxborough in a number of roles for 51 years.

In 1961, Pete Turner was named Foxborough’s first building inspector and wrote the first building permit in town.

The permit was for homes on Bradford Street, which is now Bradford Avenue, according to Authelet. In his first year on the job, Turner wrote 244 permits and was part of a committee to construct the Town Hall, which served as combination of Town Hall and the Police Station because town business had been conducted in rented space since the Town House fire of 1900, according to Authelet.

Turner served as building inspector from 1961 to 1968, served as building commissioner from 1969 to 1982, assessor from 1962-2006, industrial development commission from 1975 to 1982, municipal building and planning committee from 1988 to 2009, permanent school building committee from 1979 to 2003 and permanent and municipal school building committee from 2003 to 2012.

Pete Turner’s grandson, Jonathan Turner made the request to selectmen Tuesday to have a plaque listing Pete’s proud record of community service be mounted in a “refurbished or new” Town Hall.

“I would like to give my grandfather a sense of just how much his public service is appreciated,” Jonathan Turner said. “Just want him to know that the people of Foxborough would like to thank him very much.”

Selectmen thanked Jonathan Turner and Authelet for the request.

“It’s a nice honor and I’ve been in town for over 32 years and Pete Turner’s name has always been around,” said selectman Virginia Coppola.

Said selectman Lynda Walsh: “Well-deserved. I can’t think of anybody that is more deserving.”

Said selectman Mark Sullivan: It’s an honor to be a part of all of this.”

Authelet said the project's next step, after receiving the board’s blessing Tuesday, is to get some estimates on the cost of the plaque, set up a fund and give the public an opportunity to give donations.