DIXFIELD — The family of a Dixfield resident who passed away in January received a legislative sentiment from state Rep. Richard Pickett, R-Dixfield, during Thursday evening’s annual town meeting.

Pickett presented the recognition to Henry P. Desroches’ wife, Beverly, his daughter, Shelly Harlow, her husband, Jeff, and their two children, Ben and Nick.

Pickett said he first met Desroches in “the summer of 1976, when I showed up in town as a young (state police) trooper.”

“I was taken to Henry’s Garage on Route 2, and that was the beginning of our friendship,” Pickett said. “I got to know him fairly well over the years, and I saw in my own eyes how involved he was with his community.”

He recalled how “every Halloween, he would be out there in the back of his pickup truck with members of the Lions Club, handing out candy to kids during the town’s Halloween walk. He did it with a smile and with joy, and it spoke multitudes to me about his character,” Pickett said.

Pickett also pointed out that Desroches was an “avid New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox fan,” and was glad that he got to witness the Boston Red Sox win three championships.

Desroches was a graduate of Mexico High School and served in the U.S. Army as a corporal from 1952 to 1954. He owned and operated Henry’s Service Stations in Mexico and Dixfield.

He also served as a member of the Dixfield Lions Club, King Hiram Lodge in Dixfield, Kora Temple Shrine, where he was a former ambassador, Dixfield American Legion and the Webb River Sportsman Club of Dixfield.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net