GREENFIELD — A lifelong resident of Greenfield, Mary Benedetti was one of those people who just about everyone knew, and for whom everyone had a story.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad word about her,” said her son, Doug Pratt, who was an officer with the Greenfield Police Department for 26 years. “Everybody seemed to know her.”
Benedetti died at age 92 on March 23, but not without leaving a significant impact on the people of Greenfield.
She worked for 41 years at the Greenfield Farmers Cooperative Exchange, volunteered for more than 70 years with the Franklin County Fair — serving most recently as the director of the Fair Museum, which will be rededicated in her memory this year — and worked the polls for many years during elections.
“I run into people, still — people who offer their condolences to me — and I have no idea who they are or how they know me,” Pratt said. “It’s just amazing how many people knew her.”
Benedetti also was handy with crafts, according to Pratt. She liked working with ceramics and made wreaths that she gave away at Christmastime.
Their relationship was built on a mutual interest in poking fun at one another, Pratt said. Neither was off limits for a joke at the other’s expense.
“I’ve been putting up with her for 67 years of my life,” he said. “To try and sort it out in my head … I don’t know. The memories between her and I are just too numerous to list.”
In part through Pratt, Benedetti developed a relationship with the Greenfield Police Department.
“She’s somebody we always saw around town,” said Deputy Chief Mark Williams. “She was just a kind and sweet lady, offering a hug and encouragement. She felt like everybody’s mom.”
Benedetti was a supporter of the police K-9 program, according to Williams.
Officer Patty West, a longtime friend, said Benedetti used to sneak extra treats into her bag when she was shopping for dog food at the Greenfield Farmers Cooperative Exchange.
“I’d tell her, ‘It’s OK, Mary. The Police Department pays for this.’ She’d say, ‘I just love to spend my son’s inheritance,’” West recalled. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Members of the department knew her as the woman who brought homemade peanut butter and chocolate fudge to them during the holidays.
Benedetti’s sense of humor is what West will miss most about the Greenfield native. She was sassy, kind and had a way of making people feel special.
By all accounts, Benedetti was also a practical joker.
“She was an extremely good friend and a real troublemaker — in the good sense, ” said her friend Kathy Hammond.
“She made us all laugh, no matter where she was or when you saw her,” Hammond said. “She always had some kind of a joke, or was picking on me or someone else.”
Hammond’s daughter, Kerry, said her father, Skip, was a frequent target of Benedetti’s practical jokes.
“My father, Skip, she used to always give him such a ribbing. She’d pick on him all the time,” Kerry Hammond recalled. “She’d put embarrassing pictures of him in the Recorder on his birthday.”
She said Skip Hammond died about 2½ years ago, and she’s sure Benedetti is back to poking fun at him.
Perhaps what Benedetti is most recognized for is her decades of service to the Franklin County Fair.
“She was a fixture at the fair,” said Mike Nelson, president of the Franklin County Agricultural Society. “She’s always been an amazing character. She’s somebody who had a personality like no other and was loved like no other.”
She had a distinct laugh and a heart of gold, he recalled, noting that people came to the fair looking for a hug from Benedetti.
Nelson said the Franklin County Fair plans to rededicate the Fair Museum this year in Benedetti’s memory.
“We will truly miss her,” he said. “It’s not going to be the same fair without her. She really was a character that will never be matched.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.