TRAINOR

NARRAGANSETT — She served 18 years on the School Committee, left for six years and then returned for two more when she thought the board needed a healthy dose of experience.

Tomorrow, flags will be at half staff in honor of Sheila Trainor, a school board member who died Saturday following a coronary aneurism.

Trainor, 74, was an elected official who spoke her mind, asked tough questions and cast dissenting votes if she disagreed with the majority. Just last year, she was in the minority when the school board voted to hold meetings at the Narragansett Pier Middle School rather than Town Hall, where they could be broadcast live.

But that was only her public face.

To her family, she was the world’s greatest mom and grandmother, always putting her children and grandchildren first, always making sure she was there to meet any need.

“I can’t even put into words how she felt about her grandkids,” said her son, Jeremiah. “That was her.”

Some of her outspokenness may have come from life’s experiences.

Trainor became a single mom in the days when the term was not so common. Her husband, Raymond, died of a heart attack in 1978, leaving Trainor with Jermiah, then 8, and two daughters, Sheila and Alisa, then in their early 20s.

She worked two jobs and laid down the law as she kept up the house on Tupelo Trail in typically meticulous fashion.

“Pick that up,” was a common command, said Jeremiah Trainor, now 38.

Four years after her husband’s death, Trainor accepted an appointment to the School Committee and stepped into the realm of local politics that her husband had embraced during his years on the Town Council.

It was a role that she would embrace. She served 18 consecutive years, eight of them as chairwoman, leaving in 2000 when she did not seek reelection. Two years ago, when she ran again, voters put her back on the board.

Former board member Maureen Chronley, who served with Trainor from 1992 to 2000, said Trainor took her role seriously.

“She took being an American citizen very seriously,” Chronley said. “She was just very proud of being part of government.”

Born in Wales to parents who had migrated from Ireland, Trainor met her future husband during the Korean War, when he was stationed in Great Britain with the Air Force, Alisa Trainor said yesterday. They married in Wales and began their new life in Providence, where Raymond Trainor had grown up.

They moved to Narragansett in the early 1960s, and in time Raymond Trainor became a local fixture through his involvement with organizations such as the Lions Club and a group of Democrats that would shape town politics for years to come.

Sheila Trainor suffered a second blow in 1995, when her oldest daughter died.

“How many women have to bury their husband and their child?” Alisa Trainor said. “She did it, and she did it all by herself. Her family was still in Wales.”

Trainor visited Wales several times to see her family, but one of her happiest times was when 11 of those family members came to Narragansett for Jeremiah’s wedding, Alisa Trainor said. They stayed at the colonial on Tupelo Trail for about two weeks.

“That was huge. She talked about that for years,” her daughter said.

One tradition Trainor brought from Wales was her love of tea. She started her day with it and was often seen having a cup when she had a moment to catch her breath. Her five grandchildren are also tea drinkers, thanks to her influence, Alisa Trainor said.

It was unclear yesterday if the Town Council will appoint someone to fill the remainder of Trainor’s two-year term. Council President T. Brian Handrigan did not immediately return phone calls.

Trainor was sitting at the kitchen table on Saturday when she became ill, in the same spot her husband had been sitting in when he had his heart attack, Alisa Trainor said.

Since then, the family has received an overwhelming response of calls, cards and flowers, she said.

Visiting hours will be today, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Forbes Funeral Home, on Columbia Street in Wakefield. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held tomorrow at 10 a.m. at St. Thomas More Church, in Narragansett.

Donations in her memory can be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105-1942.

redgar@projo.com