Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter died unexpectedly on Wednesday at the age of 62. Carpenter was in the middle of his third two-year term, and was planning on running for a fourth. He was first elected in 2013. Bob Buckley is Carpenter’s former chief of staff. He spoke with WGBH Radio’s Aaron Schachter about what Carpenter was like as a person and what he accomplished for Brockton as mayor. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Aaron Schachter: I understand Mr. Carpenter had been dealing with some illness and he'd been having some heart issues, but it seemed like things were going OK?

Bob Buckley: This definitely caught all of us very much by surprise. He had been dealing with some heart issues. He was also, over the last month, taking care of his elderly father, who passed away two and a half weeks ago. The toll of everything, I guess, was just a little bit too much.

Schachter: Now one of the reasons we're talking is because Carpenter made a name for himself helping to revitalize Brockton, a city that has seen hard times. Right now, people have been moving to Brockton in greater numbers thanks to its affordability, change in the downtown, a lot of development in general. Tell us, if you would, about Carpenter's role in that.

Buckley: He had a goal right from the very beginning when he came in to revitalize the downtown. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to see the downtown redevelopment come to fruition, but he worked extremely hard. He thought it was incredibly important, and he just was a tireless advocate. You know, he’d wake up at four in the morning and work until midnight. And I think the legacy of Bill Carpenter is going to be something that's going to be 10 to 20 years down the line, when people really see what he accomplished.

Schachter: We're speaking with Bob Buckley, former chief of staff for Brockton mayor Bill Carpenter, who died today. Now Bob, Mayor Carpenter was known for his work when it comes to the opioid crisis. He got a shoutout today from the attorney general. Can you tell us about that?

Buckley: It was a deeply personal issue for the mayor. A couple of his children have battled the issue, and have been successful in their battles, fortunately. The mayor started the Champion Plan program here in Brockton, where over 800 people have gotten help with their drug problems by just walking into the Brockton Police Station and asking for help. And over 800 people have found beds because of it. I think that's the main reason why he got into politics, because he ran for school committee, and the reason he did is because he felt that the Brockton Public Schools were not addressing the opioid crisis or the drug crisis in general. And he made it his life's work. There are a lot of people who are alive today because of his efforts.

Schachter: You were Mayor Carpenter's chief of staff for two years or so, but you knew him much longer than that. Talk, if you would, about your history together.

Buckley: There are a lot of stories I could tell that I shouldn’t be telling on public radio, so I'll save those. But let me just say that we had a great professional relationship. We had a sports radio talk show on WBET here in Brockton, and we broadcast Brockton High School football games together for 10 years, and had a blast doing it. We also covered fights together. A lot of people have forgotten that Bill was a professional ring announcer that was seen often on ESPN. He's just one of those guys whose background is so diverse, and he was just so much fun to be around. That's the thing that's so sad today, is that the city lost a great man, the city lost a great leader, but a lot of people lost their best friend.

Schachter: Now if I understand correctly, you're out somewhere now, celebrating his life with a group?

Buckley: We just all needed to be together, because I honestly woke up this morning and just couldn't function for an hour once I found out the news. And so I was just naturally drawn to come to City Hall, and now we're at the bar right across the street. The mayor enjoyed a few libations here over the years, and we're missing him. We definitely are.

Schachter: After the libations, what's next for the city of Brockton? How does it move forward?

Buckley: Well there are some great people in this city, but there is a void, and I don't know who is going to fill that void right now.