Folsom Funeral Service

Vida Esther (Harrison) Neilson, a 50 year resident of Westwood, died Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at her home in Westwood after a long illness.  She was 83.  Vida was born June 2, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of the late Reverend Edward Stacy and Clara Aramintha (Davenport) Harrison.  She grew up in Avon, Massachusetts and graduated from Avon High School.  She then attended Colby College and graduated from the New England Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in 1944.  Vida briefly worked for an insurance company doing health examinations for prospective policyholders.  She loved reading, and she loved travelling around the world.  She was a member of the Westwood Baptist Church Crafters, and she and her husband Steve ran the annual Church Fair one year.  She is survived by her husband of sixty years, Norman E. “Steve” Neilson; three daughters, Karen Krug, and her husband David, of Winthrop, Maine, Tina McNulty, and her husband Jack, of Winfield, Illinois, and Elinor Neilson of Sharon; her four grandchildren, Amy Krug of Hebron, Maine, Lori Ventimiglia of New Gloucester, Maine, Sean McNulty of Naperville, Illinois, and Meghan McNulty of Lubbock, Texas; and her great grandson, Preston Ventimiglia.  She was the sister of the late Edward Harrison, the late Norman Harrison, and the late Iris Helk.  Relatives and friends are invited to attend her Memorial Service Friday, August 14th at 2 PM at the First Baptist Church of Westwood, 808 High Street, Westwood, Massachusetts.  In lieu of flowers donations to Alternatives Unlimited (an adult special needs care center) 54 Douglas Road, Whitinsville, MA 01588 would be appreciated.

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George Kurtz Bird, a resident of Dedham since 1943, died Thursday, July 29th, 2009 at his home in Dedham after a brief illness.  He was 89.  George was born March 24, 1920 in Norwood, Massachusetts, one of the three children, and only son, of George Kurtz and Kathleen Sistare (Thomas) Bird.  He graduated from the Noble and Greenough School in Dedham with the Class of 1939 and from Amherst College with the Class of 1943.  For the next 48 years, until his retirement in 1991, he taught Latin, History and German at the Noble and Greenough School.  Mr Bird was the recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award from Noble and Greenough School, and was the Director and co-founder of the Nobles Day Camp.  He was the father of the late Mark S. Bird and the late Peter M. Bird, and the brother of the late Martha S. Wood.  George is survived by his wife, Janet (Harris) Bird; his son, George K. Bird IV of Boston; his three daughters, Lucy W. Dudeney of Boston, Christina Lussier of Hopedale, and Kathleen T. Bird of Lee, New Hampshire; his sister, Frances Elizabeth Barr of Lebanon, New Hampshire; 6 grandchildren, and two great grandsons.  Private burial was in Old Westwood Cemetery, Westwood, Massachusetts.  A Memorial Service will be held Thursday, September 24th at 11 AM at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 59 Court St, Dedham.  In lieu of flowers donations to the George K. Bird Jr. Faculty Fund, c/o Nobel and Greenough School, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026 would be appreciated.

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Mary “Hedwig”  (Szablinska) Simonds, a 8 year resident of Phoenix, AZ, and formerly of Dedham for 45 years, died peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Tuesday, July 21st. She was born in Cambridge, MA, the daughter of the late Michael and Stafania (Wasileska) Szablinska. In 1938 Mary married  Harry J. Simonds. They were married for 52 years before his death in 1990. She worked as a waitress and hostess for over 33 years at Topsy/Fontaines Restaurant in West Roxbury, retiring in 1981. Mary was a 5 star mother, having all 5 of her sons in the military and a member of the Jacob Jones VFW Auxiliary Post 2017 in Dedham. She was an avid candlepin bowler who received many trophies. She loved to travel and her trips brought her to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Florida and beyond. Mary especially loved her Boston Red Sox!
She is survived by her children Richard W. and his wife Judy of Wrentham, Robert J. and his wife Claire of Dedham, Joseph A. and his wife Linda of Portsmouth, VA, Edward H. and his wife Hannelore of Mashpee, William F. and his wife Mary Ann of Mansfield, and Mary L. Simonds of Phoenix, AZ. She is also survived by 18 grandchildren, and 34 great grandchildren, with 2 more expected. She was the sister of the late Victor and William Szablinski, the late Anthony and Joseph Novicki, the late Jean (Szablinska) Bourassa, the late Helen (Novicki) Laverdiere, and the late Stella (Sazblinska) Butler.  Visiting hours will be held Monday, July 27th from 5-8 PM at the Folsom Funeral Home, 87 Milton Street, Dedham.  Relatives and friends will gather at the funeral home Tuesday morning at 8 am and proceed to St. Mary’s Church, 420 High Street, Dedham for her Mass of Christian Burial at 9 o clock.  Interment will follow in Brookdale Cemetery in Dedham.   In lieu of flowers donations to the Jimmy Fund,  c/o the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, Boston, MA 02445 would be appreciated.

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Evelyn Irene (Minichielli) Angus, a resident of Norwood since 1948, died Tuesday, July 21st at the Charlwell Nursing Home in Norwood. She was 91.  Evelyn was born July 28th, 1917 in Canton, Massachusetts, a daughter of the late Domnic and Irene (Brewer) Minichielli.  She was a graduate of Canton High School.  Evelyn was alife member of Samoset Chapter #109 Order of the Eastern Star, a member of the United Church of Walpole, and a member of the Norwood Senior Citizens Club.  She was the wife of the late George Angus and the sister of the late Joseph Minichielli.  Evelyn is survived by her daughter, Evelyn Iagatta of Walpole; three grandchildren, John Iagatta, Jr., Elaine Iagatta, and Cheryl Ann Iagatta; her great granddaughter, Madison Iagatta; her sister, Mildred Stanton of Walpole; and her brother, Everett Minichielli of Florida.  Relatives and friends are invited to attend her funeral Friday, July 24th at 10 AM at the May Funeral Home, 85 Nichols Street, Norwood followed by burial in Canton Corner Cemetery, Canton, MA.

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Joanne Kowalski Juraschek, a loving daughter, sister, wife, and mother died July 12^th, 2009 after a long struggle with ovarian cancer. Although she was born in New York, Joanne lived in Dedham for nearly 30 years. She was 54. Joanne had an exuberant spirit and accomplished much in her lifetime.  Her deeds were not the type that are reported in the news, but the type that are borne in the hearts of the many she touched. 

Joanne’s musical talent and passion for music was evident from an early age.  Her singing and piano playing was a joyful presence in the Kowalski home through her adolescence. She performed lead roles in high school opera productions and solo work in piano recitals.  She inspired her siblings and made her parents proud of her creative work. She pursued her musical education at the prestigious Eastman School of Music. To Joanne, music was a gift through which she could bless, care for, and minister to those around her. Music remained a constant for Joanne throughout her life, a means to express her faith, love and creativity whether through teaching piano lessons, accompanying a school choir, or providing music for numerous church events.

 Joanne met the love of her life in Boston and was married to Paul Juraschek on October 6, 1979. Together they had four children: Anna, Stephen, Elizabeth, and Andrew. During her early years as a mother, Joanne devoted her time to her children. Her love was unconditional and unwavering and she encouraged each of her children to reach their full potential. Joanne’s home schooling of her own children during their earliest years provided a strong foundation for their education.  The love with which she raised her four children has inspired them to care for others as she had done; all went on to choose caring professions and fields of study - teacher, doctor, and advocate for the disabled. 

Joanne’s heart and her love for people extended beyond her family.  Her home was always filled with friends. She loved to feed people and provide hospitality. She spent years working at the Carroll Center for the Blind, training the visually impaired to use computers and transcribing menus in Braille.  In particular, Joanne took great joy in caring for children. Joanne volunteered in her local church’s children service for over 25 years including directing summer camp.  She tirelessly volunteered at every school her children attended. Eventually, she worked as an administrator in Westgate Christian Academy.  She spent hours mentoring teachers and students, pouring herself out to shape the lives of the students under her care.  Whenever a child needed someone to speak with or required redirection, Joanne provided them with a safe place to learn and pursue their dreams and aspirations. Later, her love of books and young people converged and she obtained a Master’s degree from Drexel University in library science. She took the initiative to build a library at Boston Trinity Academy.

Many of Joanne’s accomplishments were motivated by her deep love of the Lord Jesus. While at music school, she came to know this wonderful person and her relationship with Him shaped many of her decisions, abilities, and attributes. Above all else, Joanne sought to grow in her relationship with this person and to serve Him in all she did. In her last days, she expressed how happy she was to finally go to meet this One, after years of loving and serving Him with her entire being. Her love of the Lord radiated to so many around her in all that she pursued and was involved in.

After she was diagnosed with cancer, the final two years of Joanne’s life were an extraordinary act of courage and faith. Throughout her health related difficulties, Joanne ministered grace to those around her and offered her beautiful smile. Her courage, grace, faith, and kindness were evident throughout this time on her blog variedgrace.blogspot.com. While Joanne will be inestimably missed, the peace and loving kindness she instilled in those close to her – family, friends, students and neighbors – will live on.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Gathering Saturday, July 18th at 2 PM in the meeting hall at The Church in Newton, 50 Dudley Road.  In lieu of flowers donations to The Church in Newton, 50 Dudley Road, Newton, MA, 02459 would be appreciated.  Private burial was in Brookdale Cemetery in Dedham.

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George Bernard Merry, a lifelong Hyde Parker through and through, died Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at the Carney Hospital in Dorchester.  He was 83.  George’s work as a journalist carried far beyond his Hyde Park community, with some of his research articles running in the international publication The Christian Science Monitor.  As a longtime reporter at the Massachusetts State House, Mr. Merry did a five-part series on the disproportionate influence that some areas in some states had in the composition of their legislatures.  The imbalance resulted in the filing of lawsuits and the eventual US Supreme Court ruling establishing the “one man, one vote” principle.  In his 45 years of journalism Merry had a multimedia career, going from print to radio to television, covering his specialty, politics and government.  For 21 years he also lectured on journalism in evening courses at his alma mater, Northeastern University.  George Merry was born June 5, 1926 in the house on Lexington Avenue in Hyde Park that his maternal grandfather, George Bowwes built in 1913.  George’s niece, Lorraine (Watson) Fourney, reports that his parents, Edgar Francis, and Ethel Bradford (Bowes) Merry, were also married in the same homestead.  George graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1944 and from Northeastern University in 1948.  He worked summers helping in the office at the Westing- house plant in Hyde Park but a different career choice was calling him.  He found work at the Christian Science Monitor, first as an office assistant, and later as a reporter.  Because of weak eyesight since childhood he developed a phenomenal memory.  This talent, sharpened in his youth by memorizing major league baseball statistics, helped the rookie reporter as he covered general news, labor, the waterfront, and the world of politics.  All his stories were done in the old fashioned way, on his manual typewriter.  George was New England Bureau Chief for three years, followed by eight years covering Boston City Hall, and then 18 years as a State House reporter.  His weekly Beacon Hill Watch column was carried in the Monitor and syndicated to 18 other daily and weekly newspapers across Massachusetts.  He progressed to reporter and commentator on Monitor radio.  In 1989 he won new fans seeing him for the first time on television.  He hosted the hour long weekend program Affairs of State.  George served as the vice president of the Hyde Park Historical Society for 30 years.  He was active in his church, the Third Church of Christ, Scientist in Hyde Park and often volunteered his time to staff the reading room.  George was also a faithful Mason and member of the Fourth Estate Lodge, which was later absorbed into St. John’s Lodge AF & AM, the oldest masonic lodge in America.  In 2007 he received his 50 year membership pin in masonry.  For years he enjoyed attending the monthly banquets at the Massachusetts Grand Lodge in Boston.  George was recognized by his colleagues with the presentation of the prestigious Yankee Quill Award.  He was named a fellow of the Academy of New England Journalists for his contributions to his profession.  He also received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Northeastern University, the Public Service Reporting Award from the American Political Science Society, and was a nominee for an award from the New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Science.  George was a past president of the New England Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and a former president of the Massachusetts State House Press Association.  He was a former vice president of the Boston City Hall Reporter’s Association.  After retiring in the 1990’s Mr Merry joined a group of retired newsmen, former legislators, judges, and city officials for lunch, reminiscences and discussion of the news of the day at Doyle’s Cafe in Jamaica Plain.  The group, designated as ROMEO’s (Retired Opinion Makers Eating Out),  included George as a faithful member until the end of 2008 when his health problems started.  George Merry is survived by his sister, Mary L. (Merry) Watson, and her husband Donald, of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania; his nephew, David Watson of Newcastle, Pennsylvania; and his niece, Lorraine (Watson) Fourney, and her husband David, and their children, Jenna, Kimberly, and Ian Fourney, of Gaithersburg, Maryland.  A celebration of the Life of George Merry and Masonic Tribute in his honor will be held Saturday, July 18th at 2 PM at the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, Arlington Street, Hyde Park. Private burial will be in Mayflower Cemetery in Duxbury.

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Donald Henry MacLellan, a resident of Westwood for 45 years, died Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at his home in Westwood.  He was 94.  Donald was born in Portland, Maine on April 17, 1915 the last surviving child of Charles Arnold and Nellie Sadie (Greenough) MacLellan, immigrants from Nova Scotia, Canada.  He graduated from Burdett College before serving in the US Army during World War Two.  Don worked for 20 years as the accountant for Simplex Wire & Cable Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then for LFE Corporation from where he retired in 1982.  He was a member of American Legion Post 320 of Westwood, a Past Master of West Roxbury Lodge AF & AM, and a member, and past chaplain, of Eliot-Hyde Park Lodge AF & AM of Westwood.  Don was a former member of the Stratford Street Baptist Church in West Roxbury, and the Islington Community Church of Westwood, where he had served as a deacon.  His passion, however, was Boy Scouting.  Don helped organize Troop 4 at the Stratford Street Church in 1940.  He served as the Scoutmaster of Troop One in Islington for 25 years and saw 48 of his scouts rise to the rank of Eagle Scout.  Donald served as the Unit Commissioner for the Boston Minuteman Council of Boy Scouts; he was the first recipient in Massachusetts of the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouting Award; he held the Silver Beaver Award in Scouting; and the St. George’s Award from the Catholic Church.  Donald was the father of the late Donald Henry MacLellan Jr., and the brother of the late Harold Arnold MacLellan, the late Frank Warren MacLellan, and the late Helen Hallenbach.  He is survived by his wife, Estelle June (Cosgro) MacLellan; his son, Charles Joseph MacLellan of Novato, California; his daughter, Dorothy Jeanne Russell of Spanaway, Washington; as well as 3 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren.  A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, August 8th at 11 AM at the First Baptist Church of Westwood, 808 High Street, Westwood.  Burial will be in Gethsemane Cemetery, West Roxbury.  In lieu of flowers donations to Eliot-Hyde ParK Lodge, 655 High Street, Westwood, MA 02090 or to the First Baptist Church, 808 High Street, Westwood, MA 02090 or to the Boston Minuteman Council, Boy Scouts of America, 411 Unquity Road, Milton, MA 02186 would be appreciated.

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