Bedford

An Obituary: Michael C. Lehane, Bedford’s Former Town Counsel

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Michael C. Lehane, a former Bedford town counsel for many years, died Monday, Jan. 11, 2021 at his home near Reading, PA.

Mr. Lehane was a founding partner of the firm Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, in Quincy. During his 40-year legal career, he was town counsel in Danvers and Norwood as well as Bedford. His firm in 1991 was the first hired by Bedford to represent the town as a corporate legal collective.  Prior to that Lehane was a local lawyer, representing several local residents.

Atty. Lehane, who retired several years ago, served as special counsel to municipalities and school committees on litigation matters. While at Boston University Law School, he worked as an aide at the former Metropolitan State Hospital in Waltham, explaining that it was an ideal job, as so many people needed help.

“He was one of the most significant people I worked with during my career in government,” said Bedford’s former Town Manager Rick Reed. “I respected his intellect, his humor, his knowledge of municipal law, and, most of all, his kindness to others.”

An Obituary: Joan Locke Pfeiffer

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Joan Locke Pfeiffer passed away on January 7, 2021.  Mrs. Pfeiffer moved to Bedford with her husband Donald W. Pfeiffer who later served as Bedford’s Town Accountant and Town Clerk in the 1950s. They became founding members of the First Baptist Church.

An Obituary: Barbara Russo Hawkes

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Barbara Russo Hawkes passed away on Jan. 3, 2021. A competitive skater as a young woman, Mrs. Hawkes will be remembered as a wonderful mother and grandmother with a particular knack for gardening and embroidery.

An Obituary: Christopher R. Johnson

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Christopher R. Johnson passed away on January 3, 2021.  Mr. Johnson retired as manager of Bedford’s Stop and Shop supermarket.

Deaths

An Obituary: Walter M. Weinfurt

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Walter M. Weinfurt passed away on Jan. 2,  2021. Mr. Weinfurt retired as Director of Contracts at Raytheon Corporation after a 42-year career. He served as a lector, eucharistic minister, a religious education instructor, and a member of the finance committee at St. Michael Parish.

Deaths

An Obituary: Frank M. Limoncelli

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Frank M. Limoncelli passed away on January 5, 2021.  Mr, Limoncelli retired as Classified Advertising Manager at the Boston Globe after a 40-year career, starting as a messenger at the Globe as a student; he was immensely proud of the paper and its quality journalism. In his second career, Mr. Limoncelli was a longstanding professor of Oral Communications at Bunker Hill Community College.

Bedford

An Obituary: William Andrew Damery, Sr.

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William Andrew Damery, St. passed away on December 29, 2020.   A graduate of Bedford High School, Mr. Damery was a firefighter who retired from the Bedford Fire Department. In addition to his interest in the culture of Japan, he loved ice cream, the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, summer afternoons exploring Boston and Cambridge, classical music, and learning more about his Scottish and Swedish heritage

Deaths

An Obituary: Virginia Stoner Hill

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Virginia Stoner Hill  passed away on December 7, 2020. A choral conductor, one of Mrs. Hill’s favorite times was as a nursery school teacher where she combined her love of music and young children; she was also an avid gardener who loved traveling.

Funeral services were private.

Deaths

An Obituary: Barry Seidman

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Barry Seidman, retired U.S. Air Force major and a familiar businessman near the MIT campus, has passed away. After graduation from Boston University where he was a member of the Arnold Air Society ROTC, he enlisted in the Air Force as a pilot in training, earning a Silver Star for Bravery in the Vietnam War. Until his retirement in 1982, Mr. Seidman served the Strategic Air Command at Portsmouth, NH, at SAC Headquarters in Omaha, and the Pentagon.  He was a member of the Bedford Jewish Community and Temple Emunah.
 

Bedford

An Obituary: Nancy Ricker Sears

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Nancy Ricker Sears passed away on November 23, 2020.  A resident of Bedford from 1958 until she retired to New Hampshire, Mrs. Sears was a reading specialist in the Cambridge, and later, Westford public schools. An avid reader, she enjoyed classical music, word games, sewing and knitting, and loved to laugh.

Bedford

An Obituary: Donna Fennell Cole

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Donna Fennell Cole passed away on December 4, 2020.  Mrs. Cole was a longtime member of First Parish, Unitarian Universalist, in Bedford where she was a devoted member of the choir.  She was an associate professor at Lesley University where she taught English Writing and Composition from 1980 until her retirement in 2011. 

Bedford

An Obituary: Lorraine E. Ackerman

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Lorraine E. Ackerman passed away on December 12, 2020.  An accounting clerk at MITRE Corporation, Mrs. Ackerman had lived in Bedford for more than 40 years. She enjoyed needlepoint, knitting, and graphic art design.

Bedford

An Obituary : Selma (Sally) Rabinowitz

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Selma (Sally) Rabinowitz passed away on December 4, 2020, at age 95.  Mrs. Rabinowitz moved to Carleton-Willard Village in 2012 and enjoyed eight wonderful years at the Village.   She participated in plays and readings, and she regularly sang the candle blessings at the Friday night Shabbat services but especially liked reading a book on Main Street and engaging with her many friends.

Bedford

An Obituary: Therese ‘Terry’ Kavanaugh McHugh

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Therese ‘Terry’ Kavanaugh McHugh passed away on December 2, 2020. A former resident of Bedford, Mrs. McHugh worked her way through college along with her older children. She earned a Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Boston State, now UMass-Boston. Along the way, she worked, sometimes as a volunteer, at Fernald Development Center, the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital in Bedford, and a state agency where she worked directly with released prisoners to find careers and jobs in the Boston area, as well as resettling Southeast Asian refugees after the Vietnam War.

Bedford

An Obituary: Lorraine Kirk Bonner

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Lorraine Kirk Bonner passed away on December 8, 2020.  Mrs. Bonner was an active member at the First Church of Christ, Congregational in Bedford. She especially enjoyed volunteering at the church fair, Meals on Wheels, and drove cancer patients to appointments. Her volunteer position at Emerson Hospital later turned into a permanent job and she became a member of their transport service team. A founder of the Bedford Community Singles Club, she enjoyed traveling, especially to Europe. Her other interests included watercolor painting and knitting. In addition, she contributed her sewing talents, creating costumes for Bedford High School musical productions from 1971-74.

An Appreciation

An Appreciation: Dorothy Carter Ahearn

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“Every night after dinner, we would dry the dishes as mom washed,” recalled the three children of Dorothy C. Ahearn. And there was musical accompaniment. “She let us take turns in picking records to play, and she loved The Beatles!”

They thought of that as being a “cool mom,” and she was. But there also was a cultural connection – Mrs. Ahearn volunteered for the Red Cross during World War II, serving not only in England but also in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge when she was 26.

Mrs. Ahearn, who died on Nov. 30 at the age of 102, was a Bedford Renaissance woman for three generations. She loved to read almost any book but mastered computer technology. She supported nascent enterprises, like the reconstituted colonial Minutemen, local public transportation, and the Minuteman Library Network.

Deaths

An Obituary: Jane Cole Sutcliffe

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Jane Cole Sutcliffe passed away on January 27, 2020, in Burlington Township, NJ. Mrs. Sutcliffe moved to Fletcher Road as a 5-year-old in 1927, living in the house built by her grandfather—and Town tinsmith—Quincy Cole. She came back to visit the house often, getting to know current residents.  More recently, Mrs. Sutcliffe returned to her childhood home and presented what her grandfather believed was Bedford’s Post Cane,  to the Bedford Historical Society.

Deaths

An Obituary: Caro Lin Little

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Caro Lin Little passed away on November 13, 2020, in St. Petersburg, FL.  Mrs. Little was open, generous, and kind, committed to her grandchildren, her gardens, and to the care and attention of the many horses and dogs who were also part of her life.

Deaths

An Obituary: Loretta M. McKie

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Loretta M. McKie passed away in Denver, NC on November 28, 2020. Ms. McKie grew up in Bedford and graduated from Bedford High School. In her youth, she enjoyed running and was a member of the ski

Extra, Extra!

An Obituary: Ann Thoron Hale

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Ann Thoron Hale passed away on November 25, 2020.  A resident of Carleton-Willard Village since 2012, Mrs. Hale’s ‘true home’ was Martha’s Vineyard. She spent summers on the Vineyard as a teenager and lived there year-round for 10 years before coming to Bedford. She will be remembered for her steady leadership on the board of Seven Gates Farm.

An Obituary: Dr. Eugene J. Isotti

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Dr. Eugene J. Isotti passed away on December 2, 2020. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Isotti was a long-time member and chairman of the Department of Psychology at Emmanuel College where he retired as Professor Emeritus. In Bedford, he was a Eucharistic Minister and member of the choir at St. Michael Parish.

Bedford

An Obituary: Donna Post MacLeod

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Donna Post MacLeod passed away on December 1, 2020.  A member of the Grace Chapel choir, Mrs. MacLeod enjoyed visiting and singing in nursing homes and especially loved spending time at Maine’s Old Orchard Beach.

Bedford

An Obituary: Dorothy Carter Ahearn

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Dorothy Carter Ahearn passed away on November 30, 2020. Among her many accomplishments, Mrs. Ahearn will be remembered for her more than 20 years at the Bedford Free Public Library, working in technical services and behind the circulation desk. She also served on the committee that established the Minuteman Library Network.

Deaths

An Obituary: SSgt. Alan J. Rooney, USMC

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SSgt. Alan J. Rooney, USMC,  passed away on November 20, 2020. SSgt. Rooney joined the U.S. Marine Corps out of Bedford High School in 2011 and spent the rest of his life as a Staff Sergeant and Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician in the US Marine Corps. He knew he wanted to become a Marine after 9/11, and starting training on Saturdays to prepare for boot camp. He loved being able to protect his country and was honored to serve in Afghanistan. After 10 years as a Marine, he looked forward to a future career as a firefighter so that he could continue serving the communities and people around him.

Deaths

An Obituary: Deborah Throop Leighton

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Deborah Throop Leighton passed away on November 23, 2020.  A resident of Carleton-Willard Village, Mrs. Leighton pursued community and friendship through a career as a professional volunteer in local and national campaigns, and later with WGBH, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Beacon Hill Village.