Virginia M. “Bunny” Corey, 81, of Englewood, FL, formerly of Shrewsbury, MA, died at her home with family surrounding her.
She leaves 6 children Barbara J. Walker of Englewood, FL, with whom she lived, James J. Corey and his wife, Donna of Cranston, RI, Kathleen E. Hopkins of Portsmouth, RI, Laurene T. Corey of Worcester, MA, Margaret E. Gould of Whitinsville, MA and Diane C. Tonelli and her husband, Richard of North Grafton, MA. She leaves a brother Robert Bourgeois and his wife, Patricia of Spencer, MA, a brother-in-law Henry Perron of Leicester, MA, 14 grandchildren, 6 step-grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, 9 step-great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews and three very close friends, Evelyn, Nancy and Gert.
She was predeceased by her parents, John B. and Anna E. (O’Keefe) Bourgeois; a daughter, Mary Corey; a brother John Bourgeois, sisters, Margaret Perron, and Elizabeth Dyer; and sons-in-laws Richard Walker and Peter Hopkins.
She attended St. Paul’s Elementary School and graduated South High School, Worcester MA in 1950. She moved to Shrewsbury in 1956 and resided there until moving to Englewood, FL in 2008. Virginia graduated cum laude from Worcester State College in 1972 with a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education. She taught at St. Mary’s Parochial School in Shrewsbury, MA for nine years teaching math, science and social studies.
She worked for GC services from 1980 until1984 when she left the business workforce to collaborate with her daughter at Barbara’s Cake Emporium in Westborough, MA. In 1987, she went to work for GMAC in Westborough, MA, until her retirement.
Virginia was a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Shrewsbury, MA since she first moved to Shrewsbury. She was active in the religious sorority ‘Daughters of Isabella,’ serving as an officer, a regent and a state regent. She was a member of the Shrewsbury chapter of the Massachusetts Democratic Committee, serving as delegate on both the state and national level. She was a member of St. Mary’s ‘Jet Set’ Group, the Shrewsbury Women’s Club and a local member of the Red Hat Society.
Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Virginia’s family on Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 8:30- 9:30 AM in the Britton-Shrewsbury Funeral Home, 648 Main St., Shrewsbury. A funeral Mass celebrating Virginia’s life will follow in Saint Mary’s Church, 640 Main St, Shrewsbury at 10 AM. Burial will be in Worcester County Memorial Park, Paxton. Memorial contributions can be made to the Saint Mary’s Repect Life Committee, 20 Summer St, Shrewsbury, MA 01545.
Donna L. (MacIlvane) Holbrook, 73, of Shrewsbury died Tuesday, January 21, 2014 in her home.
AUBURN-Robert T. Mills, 65 of Auburn, formerly of Westborough, MA and New York, died Tuesday in St. Vincent’s Hospital after a period of declining health. His wife Lynn Marie (Forgea) Mills died in 2005. He is survived by his son Brent A. LeBeau, of Pittsfield, a brother Peter Mills and wife Diane of New York, a sister Judy Fiumarello and husband Tom of Poughkeepsie, New York, a nephew Chris Mills and niece Kelly Mills, also of New York, his brother in-law George H. Forgea, and his wife Deborah, of North Adams, a nephew Tyler G. Forgea of Saco, ME. He was born in Kingstown, New York; he was the son of the late Thomas Mills and Mary (Ruskie) Mills. Bob was employed by Verizon for nearly 30 years where he held numerous titles, including Instructor and also Course Developer, retiring in 2003. Bob’s enjoyments included playing golf, cribbage, and reading, spending time with friends and driving his 1962 Cadillac. Bob was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans of America. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours from 3-5 PM Sunday February16th in the Britton-Wallace Funeral Home, 91 Central Street, Auburn. His funeral will be held Monday from the funeral home, with a Mass at 10:00 AM in Saint Joseph’s Church, 194 Oxford Street, Auburn. Burial in North Adams will be held at the convenience of the family. Donations in Robert’s name may be made to Greyhound Friends, Inc. 167 Saddle Hill Road Hopkinton, MA 01748
AUBURN-Robert Leo Gedenberg, 84, of Auburn a retired Diesel Mechanic died Monday February 24 in his home after a brief illness. He leaves his wife Blanche (Drake) Gedenberg of Auburn, a son David and his companion Brenda of Auburn, a daughter Dorine Donnelly, and her husband Richard, of Worcester, and a sister Florence Wynn of FL, 3 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren, as well as several nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by a daughter Diane Hoff in 2011 Robert was born in Greenville, New Hampshire. He was the son of the late John and Blanche (Porter) Gedenberg. Robert was a proud veteran of the US Navy; he served the US in the Korean War. Mr. Gedenberg worked as a diesel mechanic for T&T Red Star Express in Shrewsbury for many years. Robert was an avid outdoorsman; he particularly enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping. He was a member of the Chester P. Tuttle Post, #279 American Legion in Auburn, the Canal Sportsman’s Club in Bourne, the Orange Sportsman’s Club. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours from 4-7 PM Friday February 28, 2014 in the Britton-Wallace Funeral Home, 91 Central St. in Auburn. His funeral will be held in the funeral home at 10 AM Saturday March 1. Burial will follow in Hillside Cemetery. In lieu of flowers please make donations to Auburn Fire and Recuse, 47 Auburn Street, Auburn, MA 01501
Alice M. (Oster) Sampson – “Gram” – passed away on March 8, 2014. She was born in Worcester, MA and lived most of her life in Shrewsbury. She resided at Shrewsbury Crossing most recently. She is predeceased by her husband of 62 years, Thomas C. Sampson, daughters Jean Nelson and Diane Kasputis, grandsons Eric Busch and Steven O’Keefe. She is survived by daughter Elaine Bilotta and husband Frank of Westminster, MA, daughter Betty O’Keefe and husband Brian, of Naples, FL, Son-in-law Ed Kasputis and girlfriend Sharon Frohock, of Millbury, MA. She will be missed by grand-children, Heidi & David Floyd, Amy & Christopher Nadeau, Elizabeth Kasputis, Laura Kasputis, Ryan & Nicole, Kasputis, Kristine & Matt Murello, Susan & Fil Mastracola, Michael & Monica O’Keeefe, Melissa O’Keefe, and several great grand-children, nephews and nieces. Alice worked at Spag’s as a cashier for 30 years, had many friends from the store, was active in her church until the last few years, loved spending time with her family and doted on grand-children. She was sweet, quick witted and loved a laugh, intelligent, extremely generous, and always ready to help someone out. She loved to spend weekends in Westminster, family parties, shop, and spending as much time with her family and her grand-dogs as she could. Gram had an impact on so many lives and will be missed tremendously. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours from 9:30-10:30 AM Wednesday, March 12, 2014 in the Britton-Shrewsbury Funeral Home, 648 Main Street, in Shrewsbury. Her funeral will be held at 11AM in the funeral home. Burial will be in Mountain View Cemetery.
John A. Dvareckas, III, 75, of Auburn died Tuesday, March 11, 2014 in Saint Vincent Hospital after a long illness with his loving wife by his side. Calling hours for John will be on Friday, March 14, 2014 from 4-7 PM in the Britton-Wallace Funeral Home, 91 Central St. Auburn. A complete obituary will appear in Friday’s edition of the newspaper.
AUBURN- Richard P. “Dick” Ahlstrand, 76, passed away February 21, 2014 after a courageous battle with cancer. He is survived by his five children, James and his wife Kris, daughter Angela and her husband Richard Jordan, Richard, Steven, and Paul, all of Auburn. He is also survived by 8 grandchildren, Sara, Alyx, Erik, Nikole, Ricky, Grace, Kyle, and Christopher, and 4 great grandchildren, Ashlyn, Brogan, Finn, and Annika. He is predeceased by his wife, Carole Ann (Flynn) Ahlstrand. Dick served 6 years in the United States Marine Corps. He was employed for 44 years at Stop and Shop Supermarkets, and was proud of his status as a certified Fine Arts Artist through the Famous Artist School, in Westport CT. He loved spending time at the beach and with his grandchildren and simply finding the humor out of life. Services were held privately. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or The American Cancer Society.
AUBURN-Laurie A. (LeFebvre) Lugo, 42, of Auburn, passed away peacefully on Saturday March 22, 2014 after a courageous battle with Lung Cancer, with her family at her side. She is survived by her children; Kayla Stephanie Freitag of Worcester, Krystal, Christopher and Karissa Lugo all of Auburn, and her loving husband, Christopher Lugo, of 18 years, her siblings; Kimberley Lee of Lakewood Ranch, FL, Wally LeFebvre, Jr., of Ft. Meyers, FL, Duane, Lee, Brian, and Bruce Laythe, all or Worcester, Nannette Southworth of Sterling, Cherlynn Hollar or Elkhart, IN, Darlene Vasquez of Leominster, and Raymond V. Lefebvre of Charlton, as well as many aunts uncles nephews, nieces, and numerous cousins. She was born in Worcester; she was the daughter of the late Wallace J. and Marguerite (Howard) LeFebvre. Laurie was educated in Worcester schools. Mrs. Lugo worked as a Senior Program Processor at UMASS Group Practice, Worcester for 14 years. The family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Laurie’s caregivers; Roy Hoel, Robin Richardson, Linda Hamelin, Linda Jones, Lori “Baby-Girl” Laythe, Johnny Lugo, Dr. Zeina Al-Mansour, and the entire Oncology Department at UMass, University Campus, and her co-workers at the UMASS Group Practice. Laurie was a selfless woman who was known for her 6&6 from Dunkin’s, and her famous rice and beans. She was loved by everybody who crossed her path and she welcomed them into her heart. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours from 4-7 PM Tuesday March 25, 2014 in the Britton-Wallace Funeral Home, 91 Central St. Auburn. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 AM Wednesday March 26, 2014 in St. Peter’s Church, 929 Main Street, Worcester. Burial will follow in Worcester County Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the American Cancer Society, 20 Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701
WEST BOYLSTON- Richard R. “Rich” Dufour, 68, of West Boylston died Monday, March 31, 2014 in his daughter’s home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire after a courageous battle with advancing bivalvular heart failure. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, son of the late Raymond and Sophia (Hardy) Dufour. He graduated from Shrewsbury High School in 1965. Rich leaves his loving daughters, Jennafer Dufour Barstow of Portsmouth, NH and Samantha Barry of Jacksonville, Florida; a brother, Raymond Dufour, Jr and his wife, Carol of Colchester, VT ; a sister, Jeanne Staley and her husband, Ronald of Fayetteville, NC; four grandchildren, C. Alexis Morales of Guaynabo, PR, Dylan McShera of Santa Anna, CA, Cole and Sommer Barstow of Portsmouth, NH; a niece, Lisa DeFrancesco and her husband, Michael of Quincy, Mass; and several close friends, Bobbie Domiano , Nick Perrone, Al Stearns, and Jack Perez all of Worcester. He was predeceased by a daughter, An’gela Dufour who died in 1998. He retired after decades of dedicated services as an expert machinist and fabricator from Cincinnati Milicron/ Heald Machine Corp in Worcester. Rich was an avid sportsman, he was very much at home in the outdoors. He was an accomplished hunter and fisherman. He was award winning in mountain men primitive competitions including black powder rifle shooting and tomahawk & knife throwing. Rich was a long standing member of several local gun clubs, including being very active at the Eight Point Gun Club in Sterling at the time of his passing. He loved spending time with his family, especially being surrounded by his grandkids. Rich enjoyed taking goose hunting trips to Canada and Upstate NY with his buddies. He was also a Firearms Instructor for the Woman on Target Program at the Auburn Sportsman Club. He enjoyed designing and constructing with great skill and authentic detail his leather pouches, powder horns, and “possibles” to pay respect to the genuine mountaineers dressage while competing in mountain men primitive competitions. Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Mr. Dufour’s family on Thursday, April 3, 2014 from 5-7 PM in the Britton-Shrewsbury Funeral Home, 648 Main Street, Shrewsbury. His funeral will be on Friday April 4, 2014 from the funeral home with a funeral Mass at 10 AM in Saint Mary’s Church, 648 Main Street, Shrewsbury. Burial will follow in Mountain View Cemetery, Shrewsbury. Donations can be made in “Papa’s” honor to Beacon Hospice, 95 Brewery Lane, Unit 10, Portsmouth, N.H. 03801.
SHREWSBURY- Brian J. McNamara, 60, died Tuesday, March 25, 2014 in his home after being stricken ill. He was born in Attleboro and raised in Shrewsbury, son of the late James P. McNamara, Sr. and Janice (Burchard)McNamara. He graduated from Shrewsbury High School in 1971 and received his Bachelors of Arts degree from Bridgewater State College in 1975. Brian had worked in the call center at the corporate offices of Staples Inc. for several years. Previously he worked as a land surveyor. He was a very fun loving person; always a smile on his face and he enjoyed a good laugh. He truly loved his family and enjoyed being part of their lives. Although he had no children, he considered his nieces and nephews as his own. He loved to read. To know him was to be in awe of his intelligence. He seemed to know a lot about everything. Brian’s true passion was the theater; through the years, Brian performed in many popular productions at local theaters. He was currently considering two upcoming plays. He leaves his two sisters, Judi Scott and her husband, Stephen and Beth Wahlstrom and her husband, John, all of Shrewsbury. Six nieces and nephews that he treated like his own children, Tara Horluk, Colleen Hebert, Crystal McNamara, John Wahlstrom, Kelly Scott, and Christopher Scott; two grandnephews, Seamus and Kilan and one grandniece, Jaymee. He was predeceased by his brother, James P. McNamara, Jr. Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Brian’s family on Monday, March 31, 2014 from 4-7 PM in the Britton-Shrewsbury Funeral Home, 648 Main Street, Shrewsbury. His funeral will be from the funeral home on Tuesday, April 1st with a funeral Mass at 10 AM in Saint Mary’s Church, 640 Main Street, Shrewsbury. Burial will follow in Mountain View Cemetery, Shrewsbury. Donations may be made to Calliope Theatre, P.O. Box 581, Boylston, MA 01505
William S. Dearden, 58, of Auburn, MA and formerly of Fairhaven, MA, passed away on April 2, 2014 after a brief illness. William was predeceased by his father, William Stanley Dearden, and leaves his beloved mother, Anne Yvonne Dearden, and two sisters, Margaret A. Spinner, of Boxborough, MA, and Elizabeth D. Johnson, of Auburn, MA. He also leaves nieces and nephews: Karen Spinner and her husband, James, Kevin Spinner and his wife, Sarvenaz, Jessica Wrenn, Elizabeth Nichols, Scott Wrenn and his wife, Brooke; and grand nephews and nieces: Wyatt Lyons, Travis Nichols, John Nichols, Madison Wrenn, Kennedy Wrenn, and Molly Isbell, and his aunt Marilyn Dearden. His brothers-in-law, Dennis F. Spinner, and Dennis F. Wrenn also predeceased William. Bill was born in New Bedford, and lived in Fairhaven, MA with his family. In 2007 Bill and his mother relocated to Auburn to live with his sister, Beth. Most recently, Bill had moved to a group home provided through the services of the Worcester Office of the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services and Horace Mann Educational Associates, where he received wonderful care and support. The family thanks DDS and HMEA for all their kindness and support for Bill and for his family. Also, the family thanks Bill’s personal care assistants, Theresa Doty and Kathleen Fontaine Denault of Auburn, who provided daily care that enabled Bill to remain at home until March 9, 2014. In his younger years, Bill enjoyed swimming, bowling, participating in various day programs sponsored by Life Stream, Inc., and going to the Friday night dinner at the Cathay Temple in Mattapoisett, MA with his mother and father and friends. Bill enjoyed music, attending Mass, dancing at Native American powwows, and attending summer camp as a camper and counselor. Bill was a kind and gentle man who gave family members frequent pats on the back letting us know, “That’s OK—That’s OK.” This empathy will be lovingly remembered. A Mass will be held at St. Joseph’s Church in Auburn later this month and a private graveside service will be held at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, MA in May. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to Horace Mann Educational Associates at 8 Forge Park East, Franklin, MA 02038 or Life Stream, Inc., 444 Myrtle Street, New Bedford, MA 02746. There are no calling hours.
SHREWSBURY- Luz (de los Rios) Dulmaine of Shrewsbury died Friday, April 11, 2014 in UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus. Britton-Shrewsbury Funeral Home, 648 Main Street, Shrewsbury is assisting the Dulmaine family with arrangements which are incomplete.
AUBURN- Ruth T. (McLaughlin) Dumas, 94, of Auburn, died Tuesday, April 29, 2014 in her home after an illness. Calling hours for Ruth will be on Friday, May 2, 2014 from 5-8 PM in the Britton-Wallace Funeral Home, 91 Central Street, Auburn.