Friends of Frank gather for vigil

Friends and colleagues of former Bloomington mayor Frank McCloskey congregated Wednesday night at St. Paul Catholic Church to pray and share stories of their beloved friend and former co-worker.\nMcCloskey has been battling bladder cancer for a year and is currently at the Bloomington Hospital. Everyone at the vigil echoed similar sentiments about him, mentioning his caring personality, dedication, courage and commitment to issues and constituents.\nMcCloskey's first deputy mayor, John Irvine, stood up and shared two of his favorite memories of McCloskey, both of which, he said, captured McCloskey's spirit.\nIrvine knew McCloskey since their years together as undergrads at IU. For Irvine, one of his favorite memories of his friend and co-worker happened late one night at the office 35 years ago.\n"We were working real late at night, maybe 2 or 3 in the morning, just he and I. Frank looked over at me, out of the blue -- well, darkness I should say -- and said, 'You know, John, death is nature's way of letting you know something has gone awry.' And we went back to work. I'll never forget that," he said.\nThe second story showed how McCloskey made split-second, compassionate decisions that never hurt anyone.\n"It was my job to hire the first female police officer. After I did, the wives of the officers on the force who she road with got mad. They started to boycott! I went to Frank and said, 'Frank, what do I do about this?' He responded, 'You hire more female officers.' We did the same thing with the fire department."\nBorn in 1939 in Pennsylvania, McCloskey served as a newspaper reporter from 1961 to 1968, when he graduated from IU. He obtained his law degree from IU in 1971, then held the mayoral office from 1972 to 1982. During that time, he implemented an ambulance service, a mass transportation service, civil rights service and a housing inspection program. Also during his time in office, McCloskey lobbied for federal funding to rehabilitate sub-standard housing. Elected in 1983 to Congress, McCloskey continued his fight to help and educate people until 1995.\nTrudy Marsisckty, a lay minister at St. Paul's, is also a friend and former co-worker of McCloskey's, working on many of his election campaigns. She described him as a people person who loves everyone.\nMarsisckty remembered McCloskey's visits to town during his time as a Congressman. He would take her, as well as some of her campaign co-workers, out to breakfast to find out what was going on in Bloomington.\n"I'm here tonight, as is everyone else, because there are people who want to pray for Frank," she said. "We want to make his way as easy as possible. The people want to help him."\nRegina Moore, a "friend of Frank's" told those gathered for the vigil she had seen Frank a few hours before and told him about what was happening that night. She said he was choked up and humbled at the idea of everyone wanting to be there to pray for him. He told Moore to tell the people, "I love them all and I hope to see you all soon."\nCheri Darriau, another friend, shared with the crowd an anecdote demonstrating Frank's sense of humor.\nShe told the crowd about the night McCloskey's family called the ambulance to come to his house to take him to the hospital because of his failing health. When the paramedics arrived, they entered his home and asked who he was. McCloskey's wife, Roberta, told them he was the former mayor of Bloomington. They proceeded to help him and give him oxygen. After he got some of his energy back, McCloskey told the paramedics, "I'm one of the founders of this ambulance service and I've never ridden in one before!"\nMcCloskey's family includes his wife, Roberta, his daughter, Helen, and son, Mark.\n-- Contact staff writer Julia Balnford at jblanfor@indiana.edu.