Former Mayor Remembered At Newtown Borough Council Meeting

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — Glenn Hains, who served as mayor of Newtown Borough for 13 years from 1995 to 2008 before becoming Bucks County solicitor, died Dec. 13 in Cary, North Carolina. He was 79.

Mayor John Burke announced Hain's death at Wednesday night's Newtown Borough Council meeting.

"Mayor Hains is remembered by colleagues, friends, and neighbors in the community for his intelligence, his integrity, generosity, kindness, and caring for the community he served," said Mayor Burke.

Hains first took office in January 1995 and served until his resignation on May 1, 2008, to become the solicitor of Bucks County, a position he held until his retirement in 2012.

"He left his mark on Newtown Borough in numerous ways," Burke said, reading from information provided by the Newtown Historical Association, of which Hains was a member. "The first marriage ceremony he performed as mayor was for Dave and Mary Callahan. He also conducted the swearing-in ceremony for Sgt. Sean Orr, when he first joined the Newtown Borough Police Department as a part-time officer."

Hains was also serving as mayor and in charge of the police department when the town was shaken by the line-of-duty death of full-time Police Officer Brian Gregg on Sept. 29, 2005.

Gregg and his partner were guarding a prisoner inside the emergency room at St. Mary Medical Center on Sept. 29, 2005, when the prisoner was able to gain possession of his partner's service weapon and shot and killed Gregg.

Officer Gregg, the father of a four-year-old boy, had just started as a full-time officer after serving for a year as a part-time officer with the department.

Through all the grief and tears of the hours, days and weeks that followed the tragedy, Mayor Hains and Chief Anthony Wojciechowski led the department and the community through that dark time period. Today, a section of the Newtown Bypass and a community park on North Congress Street are named in Gregg's honor.

Newtown Borough resident Mark Craig, who served on council while Hains was mayor, remembers Hains as being "very engaged in the community and on top of everything that was going on."

He was also "very engaged" with everyone in the borough government, Craig added. "As mayor, you know an awful lot about what is going on, but you don't necessarily have to give guidance to people; but he was very helpful that way."

Craig said at the council table, Hains frequently joined conversations about the issues, describing the former mayor as "engaging, but not boisterous. He understood what was going on and respected other people's conversations, and he didn't monopolize. He listened and he participated very respectfully."

Craig said Mayor Hains also loved community activities. "He always made himself available," said Craig.

At his farewell in July 2008, Chris Ortwein, then president of the Newtown Corporation, credited Mayor Hains for bringing back the ribbon cuttings.

"He was the official cutter for lots of ribbons," said Craig. "Every new business that came into town, he was front and center, welcoming them."