Stenay woke up still stunned by the news from the day before. The city mourns a mayor, an elected official, but above all the man behind the tricolor scarf.
The shock is immense and the sorrow palpable in each of the messages published since yesterday to salute the memory of the man who led the commune since 2009, but also the community of communes of Pays de Stenay and Val Dunois and who sat on the Meuse departmental council. But behind the functions, he is above all “a profoundly human man”, “endearing” and “of great kindness” whom many already regret.
“Stéphane was not only the mayor of our city, he was one of us,” summarizes AS Stenay. Player, coach then treasurer of the club, he had maintained a close link with the associative world. “Today we not only lost our mayor, we lost a friend,” the club wrote.
Daniel Léger shared his daily life for many years as 1er deputy: “I lose a friend of 30 years, a colleague with whom mutual trust had been established during the last three mandates. Stenay loses a recognized man, a humanist with an objective vision of things who brought a lot to those who knew him.”
“A great man, of convictions and heart”
This closeness with the inhabitants is mentioned in almost all the testimonies. Manu Delgoffe, a friend of twenty years, speaks of “a man you could meet at the town hall as well as on an integration site, at school or at the edge of a field on a Sunday morning. He wasn’t just a mayor. It was someone who picked up the phone, who came, who stayed after the meeting, who knew the first names,” he writes.
A formula which sums up the portrait made by many Stenaisiens: “A true example of kindness, simplicity in relationships, hard work, dedication and vision of the collective interest”, writes a resident.
Floriane Rémy remembers the man who accompanied her when she decided to set up her driving school in Stenay in 1997: “You advised us, supported us in our project, and it was thanks to your encouragement that we took our first steps in this town. Over the years, you have become much more than a mayor, a friend. You were a real nice guy, perhaps it’s no coincidence that you left on Saint-Amour’s Day.”
The association of young and former young people entrusted to the Meuse child welfare system speaks of “a look that was matched only by kindness and benevolence”, without “stigma or prejudice”.
For Jérôme Dumont, president of the Meuse departmental council, “Stenay and the Meuse lose a great man of convictions, character and heart”.
To pay tribute to Mr. Stéphane PERRIN, you can leave a message of condolence or share a memory in his memory on the Libra Memoria website.
To date, 62 tributes have been published.
