A longtime children’s advocate, born in Lawrence and raised in Haverhill, was memorialized by the state Senate yesterday.
Monday’s Senate adjournment was in honor of James E. Lister, who died unexpectedly last Nov. 30 from an underlying medical condition complicated by COVID-19. Sen. Joan B. Lovely of Salem (Mass.) offered the motion, which was adopted by the full Senate Monday.
Lister, who was 45, worked as executive director of Plummer Youth Promise in Salem for nearly 15 years. Previously, he was employed by Family Continuity, as a social worker for the state Department of Children and Families, the Key Program in Methuen and Essex House of Corrections in Middleton.
He graduated Haverhill High School in 1994. Lister went on to receive a bachelor’s in criminal justice at UMass Lowell, where he also received his Master of Business Administration in 2003.
The Senate stood in a moment of silence.