GREENFIELD — After nine years leading the Upper Pioneer Valley Veterans’ Services District, Timothy Niejadlik is passing the torch to Christopher Demars, effective Nov. 14.
Demars, a retired sergeant major in the U.S. Army who served two tours in Afghanistan and has been the district’s deputy director since February 2020, said Niejadlik runs a solid program and he is honored to be entrusted with continuing its work.
“It’s my way of giving back to all my veterans that are in my county,” he said.
The Upper Pioneer Valley Veterans’ Services District serves Greenfield and 25 other communities in the region. It advocates for veterans, their spouses, dependents and widows or widowers for veterans’ benefits on the local, state and federal levels.
Niejadlik, 58, said he took the municipal job in August 2013, after having done the same work in Holyoke for about two years. He had previously worked 25 years for a building supply company in Chicopee. Niejadlik said his final day in the office will be Oct. 28, but he will stay on Greenfield’s payroll until Nov. 14.
The Belchertown resident intends to take a couple months off before accepting a private sector job in the area. He mentioned this is a financial decision to help maximize his Social Security benefits. Niejadlik plans to work until he is 63 and decide if he wants to retire early.
Niejadlik, a retired U.S. Army officer who earned the Bronze Star in the Iraq War, said his favorite part of the job is going to community events to meet veterans of various ages and helping them apply for benefits.
“That’s the stuff that I enjoyed the most — getting out of the office and meeting (veterans) and then getting them in here to help out,” he said. “You get kind of attached to some of these guys.”
He recalled a Greenfield Community College forum to educate Vietnam War veterans about Agent Orange, a defoliant chemical that was used during the controversial war.
“That was a really, really big event,” Niejadlik said. “I liked that.”
He said his line of work has changed considerably over the years, as much more is now done electronically. But he said this has been to the benefit of veterans, who can more easily apply for and track their claims.
Demars, 53, served as a veterans counselor at GCC before being appointed the Upper Pioneer Valley Veterans’ Services District’s deputy director. This work at GCC followed a nearly 27-year military career. He said he took the veterans’ services district job so he could help a county’s worth of veterans as opposed to the small number he was acquainted with through the community college.
Demars’ second tour in Afghanistan was cut short when he was critically injured by a suicide bomber in 2011 and spent nine months recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He received two Bronze Stars for Service, two Purple Hearts, the Army Commendation Medal with Valor and the Combat Infantry Badge for his heroism in Afghanistan.
Demars, who lives in Gill in a home a half-mile from where he was raised, said the veterans’ services district is constantly flooded with Vietnam War veterans in declining health who stop by to apply for benefits they earned decades ago. He said his main objective is to ensure the younger generations of warriors don’t wait until their final years to inquire about benefits.
Joshua Anderson has been named Demars’ replacement as the district’s deputy director. Anderson previously served as a combat medic in the Army. He started working for the district as part of a work-study program when he attended GCC.
“Tim has been a tireless advocate for our veterans and he will certainly be missed,” Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said in a statement. “I know that Chris and Josh will carry on that dedication and that the veterans’ services district is in good hands.”
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.