[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5708-S5709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SEBASTIAN J. ``BUSTER'' RUGGERI

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I welcome this opportunity to pay tribute 
to a remarkable man, a brilliant trial attorney, and a dear friend, 
Sebastian J. ``Buster'' Ruggeri.
  Buster is a legend in Greenfield, MA. He was born in 1914, 4 years 
after his parents arrived in Greenfield from Sicily, and grew up 
delivering groceries for his family's business. He went on to graduate 
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1936, and Boston University 
Law School in 1939.
  In 1942, after practicing law for several years, Buster joined the 
Air Force. He spent 3 years as a lawyer in the service, working his way 
up from private to lieutenant colonel and retiring as head judge 
advocate for a base of 40,000 service members in India.
  After the war, Buster joined the Air Force Reserve squadron based in 
Greenfield. He became commander of 85 men, retiring as lieutenant 
colonel after 22 years.
  After this outstanding service to the Nation, Buster focused his 
attentions once again on the private practice of law. He quickly became 
known as the dean of the county's legal community. He is one of the 
brightest, most dedicated, and effective trial lawyers in western 
Massachusetts. His passion and knowledge of the law and his commitment 
to justice led to a remarkably successful legal career.
  Buster's interests extend to many other areas. He is a leading member 
of the Greenfield and Franklin County Democratic Committees. No Kennedy 
has ever gone to Franklin County without Buster's advice, assistance, 
and friendship. He used to hold strategy sessions for my brother during 
his campaign for President in 1960, and he's been a valuable friend and 
adviser to me throughout my years in the Senate.
  In addition to these commitments, Buster always made time for 
community service. He is a longtime member of the Lions Club and the 
Elks Club, and served as deputy director for the Elks. Buster is also a 
distinguished member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American 
Legion. His professional achievements also include serving as president 
of the Massachusetts Trial Lawyers Association and the Franklin County 
Bar Association.
  I congratulate Buster on his remarkable career, and I wish him well 
as he continues his unique leadership for his profession, his 
community, and his country. I ask unanimous consent that a recent 
article on Buster's extraordinary life be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 A ``Colorful Pisan'' in the Courthouse

                         (By Russell G. Haddad)

       Greenfield.--By all accounts over the past half century 
     observers could usually tell when attorney Sebastian J. 
     ``Buster'' Ruggeri didn't have a strong case.
       The demonstrative and gregarious Ruggeri never flinched 
     from a weak hand. He would create a diversion from the facts 
     of a case by waving his hands about and performing some 
     theatrics.
       ``If he didn't have a strong case he would about at the 
     jury,'' recalled former District Court Judge Allan McGuane 
     could hear him from two floors away,
       John A. Barrett, Franklin County's register of probate, 
     recalls a time when Ruggeri had a 2 p.m. appointment in 
     probate court, but called to say he would be late. He showed 
     up 15 minutes late but has spent the previous hours appearing 
     in courts in Boston, Worcester and Springfield before 
     arriving in Franklin County,
       It's just this kind of drive that over the years has earned 
     Ruggeri, still practicing full time at 82, a reputation as an 
     energetic trial lawyer who would take cases nobody else 
     wanted.
       Ruggeri--considered the dean of the country's legal 
     community--still seems tireless. The self-described 
     ``colorful pisan'' began practicing law in 1939, and seemed 
     to thrive on crisis and providing that he could win despite 
     the odds, his long-time associates say.
       ``In the courtroom you could feel his presence,'' Barrett 
     said. ``He commanded the attention of everybody.''
       Ruggeri, meanwhile, looks back on his legal career and 
     takes pride in never doing anything halfway. He was a general 
     practitioner, researching while, handling divorces, doing 
     worker compensation cases, but also handled criminal cases, 
     as serious as murder, and civil actions
       ``I was always intense in my practice and tried to treat 
     everyone fairly,'' said Ruggeri.
       He said his family nickname--first was used by his parents 
     when they called him for dinner--was always ``Busty'' but 
     became ``Buster'' when Sen. Edward Kennedy call him that 
     years ago.
       In his heyday, Ruggeri was known as one of the most 
     imaginative and hardworking trial lawyers in western 
     Massachusetts,
       ``I could always express myself,'' he said smiling. ``I'm 
     at home being up front.''
       His style worked in what Ruggeri describes as his most 
     memorable trial--a 1975 murder case in which he defended 
     Ernest W. Morran. Ruggeri in his closing statement hammered 
     away at the prosecution's case slamming his fist on the 
     jury box.
       He ended his remarks reciting a Robert Frost poem to 
     reinforce his argument that police had ignored Morann's 
     version of what happened and arrested the wrong man in 
     Ashfield woods on a snowy night in November 1974.

     ``Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not 
           travel both
     And be one traveler, long I stood
     And looked down one as far as I could
     Two where it bent in the undergrowth.''

     As if he were there today, Ruggeri finished:

     ``Two roads diverged into a wood and I . . .''
     ``. . . took the one less traveled by,
     And that has made all the difference.''

       Ruggeri explained that he learned early on in his career 
     that he could sway juries by performing an impassioned plea. 
     He had to convince the jurors that he believed in his client.
       ``You have become a part of it,'' Ruggeri said. ``I just 
     about live it.''
       Attorney John Callahan, who was a Northwest District 
     Attorney from 1970 to 1978 and

[[Page S5709]]

     faced off against Ruggeri on many occasions, said he was 
     impressed with Ruggeri many, many times.
       ``He was bright. He was tenacious. He was very effective,'' 
     Callahan said.
       He recalled the Morran case, for which he was the 
     prosecuting attorney. He said it stands out as a prime 
     example of Ruggeri's skills and tenacity. Callahan said 
     Ruggeri did an ``unbelievable job'' in cross-examining a 
     pathologist testifying for the prosecutors.
       The key to Ruggeri's success was preparation by hiring a 
     pathologist of his own to inspect the evidence and guide him, 
     according to Callahan.
       ``As far as I'm concerned it was one of the best jobs that 
     Sebastian ever did,'' he said. ``Sebastian could try a case 
     off the top of his head but seldom did when it was a serious 
     matter. As he always did, he gave his heart and soul to the 
     trial as he did with many others.''
       Ruggeri was born in 1914, about four years after his 
     parents, Anthony and Rose, moved here from Sicily. His mother 
     and father, who worked for the Boston & Maine railroad in the 
     East Deerfield yards never had any formal education but went 
     on to build a successful grocery business, A. Ruggeri & Sons.
       The oldest of four cones--he also has an older sister--
     Ruggeri later helped in this business delivering groceries. 
     He has fond memories of those times when his mother would 
     give cookies to neighborhood children and the market was a 
     meeting place to talk about politics and the various 
     happenings in town.
       ``People used to come in and chew the fat for an hour,'' 
     Ruggeri said with a sparkle in his eye.
       But above all else, his greatest impression of those days 
     was his father, who opened the store in the 1920's in the 
     basement of their house Deerfield Street house. Ruggeri said 
     his father would work practically all day, yet, have time to 
     instill morals and values in his children.
       ``I think the world of my Daddy,'' Ruggeri said 
     affectionately. ``Me parents were next to God.''
       However, he didn't always move in the direction his father 
     and mother wanted. On graduating from Greenfield High School, 
     Ruggeri attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1936, 
     earning a civil engineering degree. While his parents wanted 
     him to become an engineer, he has designs on a legal career 
     and eventually went to Boston University Law School and 
     graduated in 1939.
       ``I thought engineering would be too quiet,'' the fragile-
     looking, but strong-willed Ruggeri recalled.
       After three years of practicing law, Ruggeri joined the Air 
     Corp in 1942. He spent the subsequent three years in the 
     service, quickly working his way up from private to 
     lieutenant colonel, retiring as head judge advocate for a 
     base of 10,000 men in India.
       After the war, he joined the 9286th Air Force Reserve 
     Squadron, based in Greenfield. He later became commander of 
     85 men, retiring as a lieutenant colonel after 22 years.
       A conversation about Ruggeri's military experience tends to 
     get a bit dangerous. He becomes animated, excitedly pacing 
     back and forth and swinging his arms as he tells stories of 
     being in officer cadet school and his travels in India in the 
     shadow of the Himalayan Mountains on the Chinese border.
       Reared on local political gossip at the family store, 
     Ruggeri eventually became a leader in the local and state 
     Democratic Party, befriending the Kennedys and on numerous 
     occasions hosting them at this 13-room James Street home.
       In his Bank Row offices, photographs of John F. Kennedy and 
     Robert F. Kennedy hang on the walls. A commemorative poster 
     from the 25th anniversary of JFK's assassination is 
     prominently placed in the waiting area just outside Ruggeri's 
     office.
       U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy personally signed the poster 
     with a message.
       ``To Buster--who started with Jack and has stood shoulder 
     to shoulder with all the Kennedy brothers--Ted,'' the 
     proclamation reads.
       Kennedy, in a prepared statement, recently called Ruggeri 
     ``great friend and key supporter'' for more than 40 years 
     going back to JFK's first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 
     1952.
       ``Ever since, no Kennedy has gone into Franklin County 
     without Buster's advice, assistance and friendship,'' Kennedy 
     said. ``He's made an enormous difference, and I know that 
     Jack and Bob felt the same way.''
       Ruggeri, who was one of the guests invited to Rose 
     Kennedy's funeral last year, boasts that JFK's run for the 
     presidency began in his office as strategy sessions to take 
     control of the state Democratic Committee were held there. He 
     said he only asked for one job through his ties with Sen. 
     Kennedy--U.S. ambassador to Italy.
       ``I speak Italian fluently and everything,'' said Ruggeri, 
     who in recent years has been invited to join the Republican 
     Senatorial Inner Circle. ``I could have fun in Italy.''
       Over the years, Ruggeri acquired much downtown property in 
     Greenfield, becoming the largest single landlord in town. His 
     37 properties include a sizable chunk of Bank Row, part of 
     which is the former First National Bank building. He also 
     owns an empty Federal Street office building as well as 
     several residential properties, the Silver Arrow liquor store 
     on French King Highway and the Ruggeri Shopping Center on 
     Federal Street. He also owns 52 acres on Shelburne Road, 
     which he hopes to sell for possible use as a shopping center.
       Ruggeri, who started buying real estate soon after he began 
     practicing law, said at one time the properties were 
     considered a badge of honor. Now many of them are vacant and 
     falling into disrepair and he owes more than $130,000 in back 
     taxes.
       At one time the commercial properties downtown, ``had a 
     certain amount of honor to them,'' he said. ``I've got some 
     temporary burden. I'm hoping 1996 will be better for me.''
       The life of Franklin County's oldest lawyer has been full 
     of community service. He is a longtime member of the Lions 
     Club and Elks Club, having served as past district deputy for 
     the Elks. He also is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars 
     and American Legion organizations. His professional 
     affiliations included being a past president of the 
     Massachusetts Trial Lawyers Association and Franklin County 
     Bar Association. Politically, he is a member of the 
     Greenfield and Franklin County Democratic Committees.
       Ruggeri and his wife, Margaret, were married 33 years 
     before she died in 1974. They had five children together--
     Avis, Margaret, Phyllis, Christine and Paul, who died in a 
     1982 car crash.
       Paul's death still appears to affect Ruggeri as he fondly 
     remembers what his son, and paw partner, meant to him and the 
     firm.
       ``He was bringing in young clients,'' Ruggeri said. ``My 
     whole plans to turn the office over to him were shot to hell. 
     He had a great future.''
       Ruggeri's plans to retire and hand the firm to his son had 
     been dashed, and made him push his career forward.
       McGuane, a former state representative, thinks of Ruggeri 
     as a ``remarkable man.'' He said Ruggeri belongs to the old 
     school of being polite and courteous.
       ``He's honest. A man of his word,'' McGuane said. ``He 
     always gave his client a full day's work for his pay whether 
     win, or lose or draw.''
       Over his legal career, Ruggeri said he has had no regrets 
     despite having chances to become a federal judge on several 
     occasions through his association with the Kennedys.
       ``I always wanted to be a small town lawyer,'' Ruggeri 
     said, ``I had the freedom here.''
       Hard work has become his trademark.
       And Ruggeri is still going strong. He received a degree in 
     patent law last summer from Franklin Pierce Law Center in 
     Concord, N.H.

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