East Derry post office to be named for longtime police chief

In many ways, the late Police Chief Ed Garone and the East Derry Post Office were both so uniquely Derry that it makes sense to lend his name to the building.

Both institutions embodied the changes a once small town went through in the last half-century. Garone became chief in 1972 when the town had about 12,000 residents. By the midway point of his tenure, the town’s population had nearly tripled.

Garone was the longest-serving full-time police chief in New Hampshire history.

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, a Manchester Democrat in the 1st Congressional District, sponsored a bill to name the building the Chief Edward B. Garone Post Office. The bill passed the House in June and was sent to President Joe Biden for signing last week.

The East Derry Post Office is straight out of an old-timey postcard — a tiny building connected to an old general store. It even has its own zip code, although East Derry is a village within the town of Derry. It’s a place where residents stop to chat, grab a coffee at the general store and enjoy the beauty of a Norman Rockwell-esque bucolic hamlet.

For more than 50 years, Garone was the chief of police, a father, a friend, a town elder and, to some, even the de facto mayor. Got a problem in Derry, ask Ed Garone. If he was the Andy Taylor of Derry, the East Derry Post Office was the center of Mayberry.

But as times changed and Derry expanded, so too did Garone’s community policing, Derry state Rep. Phyllis Katsakiores said.

“He was just a remarkable person. Very well-known at the Boy’s Club,” Katsakiores said of the former chief. “I think it’s wonderful. He was always helping there.”

Katsakiores said she’s 100% behind naming the post office for Garone. Just Saturday, Katsakiores was with Garone’s widow, Blanche, when they attended a funeral for another longtime Derry resident, she said.

The old Boys & Girls Club of Greater Derry was two doors down from the post office before the newer facility was built in the 1980s down the road a bit. A few doors down from the post office in the other direction is the birthplace of Derry’s most famous native, astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

Garone served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961-64 and began his law enforcement career in Lebanon. From there, he was a constant in a changing Derry.

“He worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of citizens and the officers he oversaw and to build a better, stronger, safer Derry,” Pappas said in a written statement. “The naming of this post office is one small way we can continue to honor his legacy of leadership, professionalism, and excellence in service to the community.”

Garone spearheaded the formation of the Southern New Hampshire Special Operations Unit, the first regional special operations unit in the state. Throughout his years of service, he was involved with many local organizations, including the Derry Rotary Club, Derry Veterans Assistance Fund, Vivian Leon Memorial Foundation, Alexander Eastman Foundation, and Seacoast Child Advocacy Center.

He also received several awards including, New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 and New Hampshire Congressional Law Enforcement Award for Career Service in 2015.

A Vermont native, Garone retired in September 2022 and died a month later at the age of 79.

“The job isn’t as tough as some people might make it out to be,” Garone said in June 2022. “It’s helping people, and helping people should make you feel good. It’s made me feel good for a long time.”