By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The town turned out in force yesterday afternoon to help one of its most respected citizens celebrate his 92nd birthday.
Richard Bayrd stood with family and friends outside his Yale Avenue home and waved as a long line of vehicles, including police cars, fire engines, DPW trucks, passenger cars and pickup rucks drove by with lights flashing, sirens blaring and horns honking.
Many neighbors and friends also stopped by to offer birthday wishes.
A lifelong Wakefield resident, Richard Bayrd has done his share and more to serve his hometown. He was a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for decades. He has also served the town for many years as a constable and a Justice of the Peace.
He was one of the founders of WCAT and served on its first Board of Directors.
He graduated from Wakefield Memorial High School in 1947 and was a classmate and lifelong friend of Gen. John R. Galvin. Richard’s father, Leonard Bayrd, owned and operated the Indian Trading Post at the head of the Lake for many years.
Proud of his heritage as a Narragansett Indian, Richard has marched, along with other members of the Bayrd family, in every Fourth of July parade for decades clad in Native American garb.
After a long career at Raytheon, Richard retired as senior chemical and plastics engineer. At Raytheon, he helped in the development of the artificial heart and worked on the Patriot Missile as one of his last assignments at Raytheon.
After the vehicle parade, the family presented Richard with a birthday banner made by Sardella Sign & Display and signed by hundreds of birthday well-wishers.
