Ed Conway, who served as president of the Callery borough council. Conway died earlier this month.

The borough of Callery is mourning the loss of one of its most prominent citizens, Ed Conway, who died Aug. 1 at age 77. From 2005 until 2022, Conway served on the Callery borough council, including as the council president.

“When I learned of his passing, it broke my heart,” said current borough council member Rose Marie Wirtz. “I lost a dear friend, one who was more like family to me.”

Wirtz — whose husband is the borough mayor — first met the Conway family in 1995 through Ed Conway’s wife shortly after they moved to the borough.

“I was working for Callery Borough when she approached me with a problem she and Ed were having,” Wirtz said. “This was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted close to 30 years. Even though the Conways were newer to Callery, it was like they had lived here forever, and for me they became like an extended family.”

Conway joined the borough council in 2005 and stayed on until 2022. Wirtz spoke glowingly of Conway’s tenure and his contributions to the borough.

“He took this position very seriously,” Wirtz said. “He was a man who was true to his word and a wonderful team player. He always had a smile on his face and a kind word. And if he said he would do something, rest assured, it was done.”

One of the major milestones of Conway’s time in office came when Callery agreed to sell the management of its sanitary sewer system to Evans City in 2017. This ended roughly a decade’s worth of legal squabbling between the boroughs over sewage rates.

“It was a long, tiring process, but it was a job that needed to be done,” Wirtz said. “Ed worked hard to get the residents the best deal he could. Ed never complained about the time and energy being an active council member took.”

Another notable accomplishment happened in 2007, when he helped bring public water to more borough residents through an agreement with the Municipal Water Authority of Adams Township. In so doing, he also worked to secure a block grant which helped low-income residents pay their tap-in fees.

“He was always committed to helping people,” Wirtz said.

In 2011 the Conways’ house was destroyed in a fire, and the couple barely managed to escape with their lives. Making matters worse, Conway’s wife, Judy, had just returned home from a 10-week hospitalization for a broken hip.

The president of 84 Lumber, Maggie Hardy, enlisted several local contractors to build a new home for the Conways — which included an wheelchair-accessible ramp — at no cost to them, with several Callery residents teaming up to assist in the effort. The couple were able to move into the new home just three months after the fire.

The last time Wirtz spoke with Conway was six or seven weeks ago.

“He said he had been in the hospital and was feeling so-so,” Wirtz said. “I filled him in on a couple of projects we had completed and miscellaneous things going on in Callery. He said, ‘You guys keep up the good work.’”