A Tribute to Stand the Test of Time

J.D. O’Gara

Medway Clock at Choate Park Will Honor Memory of Beloved Woman

Shown right is the metal cast of the clock that will stand at the newly revamped Choate Park in Medway. The clock was donated by Jim Smith to the town in memory of his fiancée, Cindy Kairit Reding (shown together above), who grew up across the street from where the clock will stand. The finished piece, painted blue with the plaque shown, will be unveiled at the park’s opening later this fall. Clock photos courtesy of the Electric Time Company, Inc., of Medfield. Personal photo courtesy of Jim Smith

Issue Date:

September, 2018

Article Body:

She lived right across the street from Choate Park. And now, her memory will stand through time right by the brook that flows across from her childhood home, where she grew up in a family of six children.
When it opens later this fall, Choate Park will feature a beautiful outdoor clock alongside a new road into Choate Park from Route 109, created by the Electric Time Company, Inc. of Medfield, which has created over 7,500 tower and street clock installations on every continent. The clock is Jim Smith’s heartfelt gift to the town in memory of his beloved fiancée Cindy Kairit Reding, a mother of three and grandmother of five, who passed from cancer at just 56 years old in April of 2015.
“I’d seen those clocks in other towns, and I just liked them, and I thought I’d donate it to the town in her memory,” says Smith, a fixture in Medway, who served as highway superintendent for 18 years and was on the fire department for 43 years. He and Kairit Reding, who both grew up in Medway, attended high school together two years apart, with him graduating in the class of 1974 and her graduating in the class of 1976. They found love with each other later in life, after raising children, each having married and divorced.
The clock will serve as Cindy’s memorial.
“She didn’t really have a grave or anything,” says Smith. As a final giving act, Cindy, who worked as a certified nursing assistant and always wanted to help others, chose to donate her body to Harvard Medical School for medical research.