Behind the raceGloucester man organizes fund-raiser as memorial for wife

By Dom Nicastro

Staff wri

Arthur McCann, a young surgical technician from Quincy, knew after four months the woman he would marry was Marion Kreutz, a surgical nurse from Green Bay, Wisc.

They had first met in Texas and both worked in the same U.S. Army MASH unit in Germany during the Korean War. They were married in Landsthul, Germany, in 1954.

"People used to say those marriages never last," McCann says.

Forty-nine years later, they had six children, 22 grandchildren and had settled in a house on Essex Avenue near Stacy Boulevard.

The McCanns did not spend their 50th anniversary together, however. Beset by illness for most of the last decade of her life, Marion died last August in Seacoast Nursing Home, which she had called home for seven years.

McCann was by his wife's side the day she died, just as he was every other day for those seven years.

Still today, he is grateful for how she was treated at Seacoast.

"Illness hit her hard," he says. "They just treated her so great there."

That's why McCann spent Saturday morning making sure the first Seacoast Seven Road Race went smoothly.

McCann, a retired contractor, has supported Seacoast as a way to say thanks for making the best of his wife's final years. He has been president of the Friends of Seacoast for the last few years, orchestrating fund-raising events and projects at the Washington Street facility. He organized Saturday's seven-miler as a fund-raiser for Seacoast and as a memorial for his wife.

The race's headquarters were just outside the tennis courts, near Stage Fort Park, which also marked the start and finish lines. Just a stone's throw from the house where he and Marion raised their family, McCann scrambled to issue number cards to runners. He organized trophies for age-group winners. He discussed music with disc jockey Sam Santuccio.

Sweat beaded on his forehead in the late-morning sun. Tension that comes with organizing a road race for 50 runners was palpable.

One of McCann's daughters, Karen Bresnahan, said her father has done just about everything he could for Seacoast and was not, at 74, about to quit now.

Especially for an event in honor of his best friend, his wife.

"They were terrific to her, and Dad has always wanted to give back to them," Bresnahan said. "He was always the strong one with Mom. He had always taken care of her. They did everything together. Every year they went camping and skiing. I could never figure out how they did it with all the kids."

The couple often laughed over the circumstances of their courtship during the Korean War, before they settled in Gloucester. But McCann said they couldn't have been more happy to move and raise children here.

"We had a lot of good times," he said. "We lived here 36 years. We both loved Gloucester. It's just the most beautiful spot in the world. We had a great family together, just super kids."

McCann's most recent memories of his wife are from Seacoast, where she struggled with illnesses including diabetes and congestive heart failure.

"It was a shame," he said. "She just completely shut down."

The Seacoast staff made the best of the situation, he said, comforting Marion just as he did in her last years.

He met "many good people" there, he said, and wanted the relationship to be reciprocal, even after she was gone.

Meredith Cook, Seacoast's activities director, said the home would not have as much community support without him.

"We're amazed he's continued to come in," Cook said. "He tells us, 'I can't help it, my van just turns into the parking lot.' His heart is so genuine. Everyone loves him."

Each Christmas, McCann sneaks into Seacoast to play Santa, she said, passing out candy to children visiting their grandparents.

He makes sure residents have calendars with old pictures of Gloucester, to keep them in touch with their past. He supplies residents with gardening tools. He built wooden contraptions for residents to hang on their doors to paste pictures and descriptions of themselves and their families, so neighbors can get to know each other a little better.

Seacoast is not the only place that benefits from McCann's labor. He helps the Gloucester Stage Co. put posters around town. He's a district commander at AMVETS. He also drives to Canada each year to help retrieve the city's Christmas tree, which resides each December in the traffic island in front of his house.

"I don't think it's just this place," Cook said. "Art just has an affection for a lot of his friends and family. It's just his character."

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