Farewell to the Former Mayor

Mayor Gilles Bertucelli, officiating at the marriage of our friends Jean-Michel and Martine.

Last week the inhabitants of our small town were shocked and saddened to learn that our former mayor, Gilles Bertucelli, had died. He had lived all his life here and everyone knew him. Here is a translation of his obituary in the local paper.

 

Mayor Gilles Bertucelli officiating at the town New Year's best wishes ceremony. Also present a government Minister, a member of parliament and the President of the Communauté des communes (super shire).

"Gilles Bertucelli, former mayor of Preuilly-sur-Claise, is no more. He died of pleural cancer on Saturday, March 26, perhaps due in part to the asbestos he often handled professionally in his youth, at a time when the harmfulness of the material was not known. He was 69 years old.

In September 1952 his father Norbert came to settle as an electrician plumber in the municipality, where Gilles was born on 7 October. After Grade 10, he entered the family business as an apprentice and then acquired a master craftsman qualification.

In 1976 he married Françoise, and two children were born, Romain and Marie. In 1985, the couple took over his father's company, which had six employees, and continued its development. Gilles was passionate about innovation and invested in new technologies: renewable energies, geothermal energy, biomass, heat pumps. In 2014, when he reached retirement age, it was one of the principal employers in the municipality, with 43 employees.

Gilles Bertucelli was also been involved in the development of the town for thirty-seven years, as a municipal councillor from 1982 to 2008, including a term as deputy mayor and as mayor from 2008 to 2020. He participated in the development of leisure, sports and culture. In 1983, as a young councillor, he and some friends created the MCJ (Maison communale de jeunes -- Community Youth Centre), whose activities are still flourishing forty years later.

Among the main achievements of his mandates are the housing estate of La Saulaie, the heating of the communal buildings, the renovation of the town hall square, and the guinguette (outdoor dinner dance space). A strong defender of small village life, he helped the installation and maintenance of local businesses in the center of the village.

Several Preuillaciens recall with emotion a council meeting where the mayor impressed by his courage. In 2015, sensitized to the fate of migrants perishing in the Mediterranean, he had imagined making available vacant housing in the municipality. At this relatively stormy meeting, with a large audience, partly unfavorable, the mayor managed to turn the opinion around. In response to a mistrustful question, he replied, "I was moved by the terrible images seen on television and I am ready to welcome suffering human beings, regardless of race or religion." The public was won over and embraced the mayor's humanitarian approach."

Mayor Gilles Bertucelli officiating at the memorial ceremony for the World War Two deportees.

You can read the original in French here [link].

The police were controlling traffic because of the large crowd at the church for the funeral.

Gilles Bertucelli dancing in the street during a village festival.