Former Lower Gwynedd Police Chief Kenneth Bright Passes Away

LOWER GWYNEDD, PA — Kenneth Bright, a Lower Gwynedd native who served as the community's police chief in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and who later became a township supervisor, has passed away.

Bright, 80, died Tuesday from natural causes in the Salem, Massachusetts area, where he had been living since around 2007, according to Lower Gwynedd Police Chief Paul Kenny.

Bright began his career with the department back in 1969. He became chief in 1996 and served in that role until his retirement in 2002.

Bright was a longtime Lower Gwynedd resident who cared deeply about his community, loved horses, and was both a no-nonsense police chief but one who also always gave people the benefit of the doubt, Kenny told Patch in an interview Wednesday.

"He really cared about Lower Gwynedd," Kenny said of Bright. "A lot of that is probably because he grew up here, he went to Wissahickon."

Kenny said when he started with the Lower Gwynedd Police Department back in 1985, Bright was a detective sergeant who performed Kenny's background test.

At that time, Bright was a "voice stress analyzer," Kenny said, which was popular during the 1980s, and was similar to a polygraph test in that it was designed to help measure truthfulness.

Kenny said those who knew Bright were aware that he was a "man of few words."

"He didn't come off as mister sociable," Kenny said. "People took that the wrong way. Kenny was very nice. He didn't throw words out there for no reason. But when he did speak, everybody listened, because it made sense. It was important."

Kenny said Bright was an "old school police officer," but also "had a heart for the less fortunate.

"If somebody was really down on their luck, he had a soft spot for them," Kenny said.

Honesty was his biggest thing, Kenny said of Bright. As long as people were honest with him, Bright would be willing to give breaks.

"Honesty was his biggest trait that he looked for in other people," Kenny said of Bright. "Even a criminal. Just tell the truth. If you're not going to tell me the truth, don't tell me anything."

Kenny said Bright was a "very basic, truthful, honest guy," and one who was very easy to work with and to work for.

In his personal life, Bright, who was married to Carol, with whom he had sons Stephen and Eric, was a horse lover who ended up building his own farm upon the family relocation to Massachusetts some years back.

"I learned more about horses from him than police work," Kenny said jokingly.

Even when Bright still resided in Lower Gwynedd, he kept horses at a local stable and rode them quite often.

In Massachusetts, Bright took to the more rural lifestyle, Kenny said, although he remained involved in local politics, serving as an elected town councilman in his community for some time.

Kenny said Bright would be missed.

As of Tuesday, there did not yet appear to be an obituary for Bright and funeral information was not yet available.

Patch will bring you more information when it becomes available.