Tardif remembered as devoted to the city of Saco

Art Tardif PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

Liz Gotthelf, Publisher•

SACO — Arthur “Art” Tardif was a fixture in Saco – forever loyal to his alma mater and devoted to public service.

Tardif, 80, died Sunday after a brief illness, according to an obituary on the Cote Funeral Home website.

Tardif served for more than 20 years on the City Council, and then went on to serve on the School Board. He was a police officer in the city for 27 years, and also worked as a bail bondsman and a realtor.

Mayor William Doyle led the City Council in a moment of silence on Monday night in honor of Tardif.

“A friend, a colleague, a long-term city council member, school board member and police officer with our community. Our hearts go out to his family during these tragic times,” said Doyle.

Tardif, a 1959 graduate of Thornton Academy, regularly attended football games at Thornton. He was also a baseball and softball umpire for 40 years, according to his obituary.

"Art was a true community servant. He was especially concerned about the seniors being taxed out of their homes, and he always voted with them in mind," said Al Sicard, District 3 York County Commissioner.

“He was a remarkable Councilor, he always did his homework,” said former Mayor Mark Johnston. He described Tardif as a friend and a local character, and the two would often talk politics at Johnston’s downtown wine and sandwich shop.

“We used to call him Councilor No,” said Johnston.

Tardif was known for voting against any Council initiative that involved spending a large sum of money. He was very careful about spending resident’s tax dollars, said Johnston.

“Basically, he was always thinking of the taxpayer,” he said.

Former Superintendent of Schools Dominic DePatsy liked to refer to Tardif as “Mr. Saco.” DePatsy said Tardif truly cared about kids.

“When he came on the board everyone was afraid that he was going to say no to everything. However, it was quite the opposite and he said yes to a lot of things that impacted students,” said DePatsy.

Johnston said while Tardif sometimes had a gruff manner, underneath that rough exterior was a big heart. If Tardif heard that someone was going to get a lean on their property, he would often visit the person and review their paperwork and recommend programs so that they could keep their home, said Johnston.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.