Peter Colombo remembers playing baseball with John Waldron during the long days of summer at James Edgar Playground in the 1960s.

Then 8, both boys would go on to play football together at Brockton High School, on the first Super Bowl teams to square off statewide at the high school level in the 1970s.

Waldron played center; Colombo was quarterback. Both graduated from Brockton High in 1975.

We were tandem that way, Colombo, 55, now coach of the Brockton High football team, said Sunday.

He said he last saw Waldron recently over a pizza at Tin Rays Cafe in the Village. Colombo offered to buy him a beer, but he said Waldron had given up beer for Lent.

John was always there. He believed in helping kids and everything that was good for our city, Colombo said. It goes back to football for us.

John A. Waldron, a lifelong Brockton resident known for his constant support of the city, died early Saturday at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton. He was 54.

Waldron was a former member of the citys Planning Board, on the executive committee of the Brockton Democratic City Committee, and was a longtime booster of Brockton High sports and clubs.

To me, he was family and community, said former Mayor John T. Yunits Jr., 60, a friend of Waldron for two decades. He didnt talk the talk, he lived it. He didnt look for anything in return.

His wife, Mary (Przybylowicz) Waldron, is the executive director of the Brockton 21st Century Economic Development Corp. and former chief of staff for Yunits. In October, Mary chronicled her battle with breast cancer for The Enterprise. She credited her husband with helping her through the ordeal.

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Friends: Brockton booster Johm Waldron ‘was always there’