Squeek wasn't the sort of guy who'd blend into a crowd.
He was big. Almost as big as his personality.
"He was a character,'' Bobby Blair said of Joe Milan, the man most knew as Squeek and Blair knew as a rival "mayor.''
Most anyone who met him would have assumed he was a biker at heart. In that way, looks didn't deceive.
"He loved his motorcycles. He loved being out in the open air,'' Robert Walenski, of Ashland, recalled. The two would often ride out to the Wachusett or Quabbin Reservoir, he said.
Milan's passion for motorcycles fueled his crashinsucks.net site, where he sold clothing and bumper stickers with the logo that raised eyebrows to drive home a safety awareness message. He also sold his merchandise at bike rallies around the country.
But he was in his truck, not on a motorcycle, when he had an apparent medical incident and lost control and hit another car head-on last Friday morning in Ashland.
His death came almost a year and a half after Walenski saved his life, an incident Walenski shrugs off as something he'd do for anyone, even though, to him, Squeek was hardly just anyone. "He was (like) a brother.''
When Walenski walked into the Ashland Fish & Game that Monday in September and saw Squeek choking, he gave the then-president of the club the Heimlich maneuver, and was credited with saving the Shrewsbury resident's life.
It was a gift that gave Squeek some added time with loved ones, including son, Joseph, and wife, Debra, and extra time to help others as well.
"Squeek helped a lot of people,'' said Norman Gallagher, who had known the 56-year-old since they were kids growing up in Holliston.
"In his younger days, he was a little crazy, but he straightened up, and he used to straighten out other people, too,'' Walenski said.
Squeek was a man with many interests. In recent years, he served as a Shrewsbury Town Meeting member for Precinct 1. He was also a guy with a big heart.
"If he had 10 bucks and you needed it, he'd give it to you,'' said Gallagher.
Squeek hadn't lived in Holliston for awhile, but he and Blair maintained a light-hearted rivalry over which one was the real "mayor'' of the town.
"I think he always claimed he was the mayor before I was elected'' at a block party, said "Mayor of Mudville'' Blair. "It was a running joke between us. ... We were good friends.''
Squeek called his friend about six months ago with an unusual special request.
"He wanted a Goodwill Shoe knife,'' Blair said. He asked Squeek why he wanted one of the penknives produced by the former Holliston manufacturer known for its steel-toed boots. "It's going to go in my casket'' was the reply, said Blair. When Blair asked if Squeek was "going somewhere,'' Squeek said he was "just getting ready ... you never know.''
Blair didn't have a knife handy, but after hearing of Squeek's death, he put out calls to friends and, he said Wednesday, one has been located.
"He can go to the Happy Hunting Ground with one of his wishes,'' said Blair.
A visitation is planned today, from 4 to 8 p.m., at the Chesmore Funeral Home in Holliston. A celebration of his life is slated Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Eagles Club in downtown Framingham.
Julia Spitz can be reached at 508-626-3968 or jspitz@wickedlocal.com. You can also follow tweets at twitter.com/SpitzJ.
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