Family, friends, and many veterans are mourning the death last week of William (Bill) Stafursky, veterans outreach coordinator for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, and a well known Island civic leader.

A combat veteran of Vietnam, Mr. Stafursky died on Nov. 1. at the age of 70.

“I’m going to miss him so much,” said Jo Ann Murphy, Dukes County veterans agent. Ms. Murphy worked with Mr. Stafursky on many projects to help veterans.

“We worked on a lot of veterans dinners, trying to get veterans together with their families. He’s been like a right arm for me, with so much help he’s given me. He was a wonderful guy. He wanted to help everybody. He drove my veterans to Providence if they had an appointment and they couldn’t make it, or they couldn’t afford it. This is a big loss for the veterans community.”

His unexpected death was noted Monday evening at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School school committee meeting, when Amy Houghton asked for a moment of silence for Mr. Stafursky, a former school committee member.

“I think it’s worth recognizing how much he did for our community, how much he did for our schools,” Ms. Houghton said.

Co-workers gathered Tuesday morning at the Community Services campus to remember Mr. Stafursky. His outreach included advocating for veterans tangled in the legal system, encouraging veterans to come in for mental health services if needed, organizing a veterans discount card program, and more.

Julie Fay, executive director of Community Services, said he filled a role much larger than veterans outreach program coordinator.

“Bill was a very important part of the Community Services organization,” Ms. Fay said. “He worked really tirelessly with all the program managers here. He always seemed to have a solution for whatever problems popped up. He had great institutional knowledge on how the Island works to help you figure out how to move a program from point A to point B. He was just a really lovely guy, he will be missed.”

Tom Bennett also worked closely with Mr. Stafursky at Community Services.

“He was one of the foremost advocates for veterans on Martha’s Vineyard,” Mr. Bennett said. “He did a great job. He was very much a community activist, very active in Oak Bluffs, in helping the town with whatever he could. A good role model for a lot of people. I will miss him. I miss him already.”

A Run/Walk for Veterans, scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 10, to benefit MVCS Veterans Outreach Program, will honor Mr. Stafursky, who ran the program. The run will begin at 9 a.m. at the Right Fork Diner. A $10 donation is suggested.The walk is being organized by Island resident and runner, Ruth Ambrozaitis.

Memorial services for Mr. Stafursky will be held in a few weeks, with visiting hours from 5 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 30 at Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs and a memorial mass on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. at St. Augustine’s Church in Vineyard Haven.