Mattapoisett’s harbormaster and team assisted the Army Corps and the Coast Guard, as the Mayflower returned to Plymouth via Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal after completing sea trials and a stay in New Bedford due to recent tropical storm. Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Environmental Police
Mark Bohan of Mattapoisett, MA died peacefully at his home on August 5, 2020 with his family by his side.
He was born August 14, 1947 in Norwood, MA, son of Michael R. J. Bohan and Mary E. Bohan. He graduated from Catholic Memorial High School and received his BA from Boston College. He worked in professional sales internationally in the high tech industry from California to Ireland. He was continuously recognized as a high performing sales representative with Fortune 500 companies, a leader in the software industry and a professional coach in business.
He was married to his loving wife Kathleen Muldoon Bohan for 25 years, and leaves his devoted daughters and step-daughter, Heather Bohan Anagnos and husband James of Canton, MA, Jennifer Bohan Taube and husband Andrew of Narragansett, RI and Kerrie O’Donnell and her husband Stephane Voyer of Vancouver, CA. He also leaves five grandchildren Taylor and Brooklynn Anagnos, Faith Taube, Lainey and Farley O’Donnell-Voyer and a brother Michael Bohan of Harvard, MA, and sisters Deborah Jencunas of Hingham, MA and Judith Bohan of Hingham, MA along with adoring nieces and nephews.
Many thanks to all the caregivers especially the MGH Transplant Team and Donor Family and Community Nurse Home Care and Hospice. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: Community Nurse Home Care, 62 Center Street Fairhaven, MA 02719 or on line at www.communitynurse.com.
Private arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd, Mattapoisett. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. For online guestbook, visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
Samuel Evan Ellis, 20, of New Bedford, formerly of Mattapoisett died August 10, 2020 at Rhode Island Hospital from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
Born in Wareham, son of David A. and Cheryl A. (Ponte) Ellis, he lived in Mattapoisett most of his life.
He was employed by Dartmouth Woods as a well respected maintenance worker.
Sam was a graduate of Old Rochester Regional High School, class of 2018.
Sam was a car and truck enthusiast who enjoyed working on his car and attending car meets and loved nothing more than his family and niece.
He was a friend to many and was always there to help anyone in need. His family is proud that Sam was an organ donor and will change the lives of many families. Sam wanted his legacy to “never die.” He will be missed!
Survivors include his parents; a sister, Sophia-Lynn Bechard and her husband Derek of Taunton; a niece, Ellison Bechard; his grandparents, James and Barbara Sullivan of Mattapoisett and Tony and Linda Ponte of North Myrtle Beach, SC; his Godmother and aunt, Julieann Dubois and her husband Leo of Lakeville; his Godfather and uncle, James Ponte of Broken Arrow, OK; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins as well as many special friends.
He was the grandson of the late John and Esther Ellis and the great-grandson of the late Evan and Gladys Crocker.
His Visiting hours will be on Friday August 14th from 4-8 PM at the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. All attendees must wear face coverings and practice social distancing. The attendance at the wake will be limited so please be patient. In lieu of flowers, donations in Sam’s memory may be made to the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts, 30 Lyman Street, Suite 10, Westborough, MA 01581 or donate online at https://biama.wufoo.com/forms/biama-donation-form/ For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saunders-dwyer.com.
Old Rochester Regional High School Principal Mike Devoll had so much to manage on Saturday that he forgot to give his opening remarks, but even after Valedictorian Rachel Perry spoke, he realized he had to take his turn at the podium because of what he needed to share.
Devoll recalled telling faculty and staff at the end of the school day on March 13, “I believe we will be in school on Monday — yikes!”
Friday the 13th became the last day that students were in Massachusetts public school buildings, but Devoll was thrilled to let everyone in attendance know that no one was left behind. For the first time in Devoll’s 12-year tenure as high school principal, every senior graduated; all 175 made it through the chaotic spring of 2020.
David S. Hagen Memorial Field was set up for ORR Commencement so that graduates arrived and left with their immediate households and, while on campus, were seated at tables socially distanced from one another on the football field. Faculty and staff served as greeters as two gates and pointed out directions from a seating chart for arriving graduates with their families.
The speakers sat along the first row of the home-side football bleachers, and the podium was on the 50-yard line.
Along with the valedictorian speech from Perry, ORR’s truncated graduation exercises featured short remarks by Devoll, Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson, senior class president Meg McCullough, and National Honor Society member Alexa Lyn McLeod, who introduced Perry.
Given the challenges of the spring semester, Nelson proclaimed the Class of 2020 “ready for anything.”
McCullough encouraged her classmates to stop and smell the roses, quoting from the ’80s comedy “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” when the lead character looks into the camera, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t look around, you could miss it.”
Knowing she was in for a very weird graduation exercises, Mattapoisett resident Mary Butler took it in stride. “I was just thinking, ‘What mask should I wear today?’ So weird. I kept it simple.” The 18-year-old National Honor Society member will attend UMass Amherst and major in bio-chemistry and molecular biology.
“I want to be a geneticist or do something in genetics. You can focus on medicine to prevent genetic disorders,” said Butler. “I need to do more research of course because I’m interested in the impact I can have on predicting… the science behind that.”
Butler played soccer, basketball and lacrosse and put up a 4.29 grade-point average.
Marion resident Lucas Costa, 18, will attend Worcester Polytechnical Institute and major in bio-medical engineering. He could wind up designing prosthetics or maintaining medical equipment in a hospital.
“I kind of just found it eventually,” said Costa, whose mother is a nurse and father works with vaccines in a pharmaceutical company. “So I kind of wanted a middle ground between that and something mechanical so I was just looking online like sophomore year, and found that on a job-career-finding site so I just stayed with it.”
Costa will attend WPI on campus, where multiple COVID-19 tests will be required each week. He will stay at the Hampton Inn next to the Worcester campus. There will be no small vacations; students on campus will remain there until Christmas break.
Costa, who plays trumpet in the jazz band, played soccer and tennis and also competed in swimming and track while at ORR. His 15-year-old brother David, who runs cross-country and plays tennis, will be a sophomore this year.
Marion resident Jackie Barrett, 18, finished more than 12 years in the ORR system, having started in preschool. When she was four years old, Barrett learned she has Type 1 diabetes.
Barrett, who took advantage of ORR’s first-ever endorsement of cap decorations with “2020 – NOW WHAT” on hers, intends to take a gap year and do internships while plotting her next move.
Luke Burke, 18, a school-choice student from West Wareham near the Rochester line, is well aware of all that’s gone in in the Tri-Town this year as the communities and his chosen school district has tried to confront racism.
“I feel like a normal person — not my experience,” said Burke, who admitted to having race relations on his mind some of the time. “A little bit, but (I’ve) just got to push it away and forget about it.”
In the winter, Burke will look to continue his basketball career at Bristol Community College.
In her seven-minute address, Perry, a school-choice student from New Bedford, summed up the sentiments that carried the day at ORR: “Tomorrow no one will remember this (speech), no matter how much I screw this up.” Quoting late civil-rights activist Maya Angelou, Perry said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
By Mick Colageo
The MAC Theater has updated its production schedule its upcoming outdoor play, Good People, written by David Lindsay-Abaire and directed by Jacob Sherburne. The production will run a total of four dates (instead of seven): Saturday, August 15, Sunday, August 16, Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23. The play will begin at 4:00 pm each day (originally scheduled for 5:00 pm). There will be no Thursday or Friday performances. The MAC has updated the schedule to mitigate any risk of mosquito exposure. Marion is not listed as high risk, though mosquitos carrying EEE have been discovered in other locations within Plymouth County. The MAC’s outdoor productions of Good People will end around 6:00 pm, well before dusk.
Tickets are just $15 for this special event. In case of rain, dates will not be rescheduled. Guests may choose another date, donate tickets, or receive a refund. Attendees will choose from two seating options, Picnic Blanket space or Lawn Chair space, and guests should bring their own blankets or chairs. Guests must also indicate the number of people in a party when registering for the event. No more than six people are allowed in a group. The MAC will space groups according to state safety guidelines. All attendees must follow best practice safety measures including mask-wearing and social distancing. Guests should wear masks when not seated and/or if adequate distance from others cannot be maintained. Guests should arrive no later than 3:45 to find their seats.
No alcohol will be permitted during the event on town property. Guests may bring their own refreshments, and there will be some sealed, pre-packaged items available on site. The MAC welcomes donations! To purchase tickets, please visit marionartcenter.org/events/good-people. Call or email the Marion Art Center with questions. Tickets are limited for this production.
Synopsis: In South Boston, this month’s paycheck covers last month’s rent, and tough-scrabble single-mom Margie just got fired from another job. Encouraged by her merciless bingo sisters, she looks up her high school sweetheart to see if the dust has cleared, and she can make her escape. A hilarious Boston drama about the intersection of class, gender, and race in Southie and Chestnut Hill, by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire.
The cast includes John Emmett Pearson, Margo Ruggerio, Susan Sullivan, Paul Victor Walsh, and Mia Vaughn. The crew includes Kaylin Blaney as Stage Manager and Steve McManus as sound technician.
Moths surprise with startling colors, clever camouflage, numbers, and diversity yet are often overlooked by those enjoying our natural areas. Join “MothMan” Mark Mello, Research Director of the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth on Thursday, August 13 at 9:30 pm via Zoom for a look at sampling moths in Marion. Mark Mello is a recognized expert in all things lepidoptera and in his years of collecting with the Lloyd Center has found nearly 700 different species. Sippican Lands Trust will use Zoom to take you along and see any early results of a night of sampling in the woods of Marion. Using grape jelly-based bait on trees and black lights on a sheet or traps we will see who is flying about on a summer night. Mello often stays out to 2 or so in the morning, but SLT will join him at 9:30 pm on Thursday, August 13.
Registration is free for members of the Sippican Lands Trust (or Lloyd Center) with a suggested donation of $10 for non-members. Please register for this Zoom event at www.sippicanlandstrust.org/events by Wednesday, August 12 and Sippican Lands Trust will send you the link and code by noon on Thursday, August 13.
On August 10, Mattapoisett received two checks totaling $185,229 from the Plymouth County CARES Act, a fund established to help cities and towns offset unplanned expenses due to COVID-19. Presenting the checks were Plymouth County commissioners Sandra Wright and Gregory Hanley, along with Thomas O’Brien, the county treasurer, and Jim Cantwell, the state director. Receiving the monies were Mattapoisett’s Town Administrator Mike Lorenco and Selectman John DeCosta, as well as the town’s accountant, Heidi Chuckran. Photo by Marilou Newell
Peter Romero, 41, of Marion passed away unexpectedly on Saturday August 8, 2020.
He was survived by his parents Arthur and Cheryl Walker, his sister Erica Ruell, brother Arthur Walker Jr., his nephew Devin Ruell and niece Mariah Ruell, all of Marion.
There will be a private celebration of life held at the Walker residents, for family and friends, to honor Peter’s memory. Anyone who wishes to attend is asked to reach out to the family for celebration details.
James A. Brett, 75, of Needham passed away on July 21, 2020.
Born on April 10, 1945 to James and Irene Brett in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Jim grew up in Methuen and went on to graduate from the College of the Holy Cross in the Class of 1967 and Boston University School of Law in 1970.
He was the beloved husband of Kathleen (Dawson) Brett for 45 years and adoring father of James Brett and his wife Emily of New York and Margaret (Marnie) Brett Eaton and her husband, John, of Holliston and grandfather to his cherished grandchildren Olivia and Nolan Brett and James, Francis and Josephine Eaton. He is also survived by his sister Patricia Ruhmann of Kingston, NH and many nieces and nephews.
Jim was a prominent Boston attorney focusing on real estate and litigation for 50 years. Among his many successes was an aviation crash case that was the subject of a feature article in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. In the court room and beyond, he was known for his collegial spirit, a quick wit and the gift of telling great stories. Jim was a founding member of Wilson, Dawson & Brett after practicing many years at Reed, O’Reilly and Brett. In his law practice and life, Jim was generous with his time and talents, always putting friends, family and clients before self. All who encountered Jim could speak to his unceasing kindness, and welcoming nature that made everyone feel at ease. For this he was loved by many and had a large network of very close friends.
Jim was a loyal alumnus of Holy Cross who maintained strong friendships with many of his fellow Crusaders. But above all else, his family brought him his greatest joy. Whether it was spending time with his wife Kathy on the porch at their beach house in Mattapoisett, watching his son’s football games at Xaverian High School and Trinity College or traveling with his daughter in Ireland and England, his wife and children were the lights of his life and brought him his greatest gift, his five beloved grandchildren.
A wake was held at Eaton Funeral Home, Needham on Sunday, July 26 followed by a private funeral mass at St. Joseph Church and committal prayers and eulogy on, July 27th at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Needham.
Donations may be made to Massachusetts General Hospital for calciphylaxis research in care of Sagar Nigwekar, MD at 165 Cambridge street, suite 302 Boston or to Nativity Preparatory School of Boston.To share a memory of Jim, please visit www.eatonfuneralhomes.com
Activities at the Rochester Senior Center are gradually being re-introduced. All activities are held outdoors, weather permitting (under 90 degrees and not raining). COVID-19 guidelines are in place for all activities and events. Attendees are reminded to bring their own masks and adhere to social distancing (six-feet apart from those not in the same household). The Senior Center has a limited supply of disposable masks in the event that someone has forgotten to bring one. Attendees will be asked to sign a COA Waiver of Liability Agreement.
All activities are being held outdoors and are weather dependent. Changes and cancelations can be found on the Facebook page and will be announced using a telephone broadcast. The Senior Center uses telephone numbers on file to send the broadcast regarding changes. The telephone number used by the broadcasting systems reads, “Cambridge MA” on caller ID.
Coffee and Conversation is held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 to 11:00 am.
Yoga with Marsha Hartley returns to the Senior Center on Tuesdays, beginning August 11 from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. Yoga will be held weekly, weather permitting, and advance sign-up is not required. Donations for this activity are appreciated.
French Culture and Conversation will be held on Thursdays from 10:00 to 11:30 am. All levels are welcome to this casual French language group. This activity will be held weekly and no advanced sign-up is required. Donations for this activity are appreciated.
The Rochester Senior Center distributes food items from The Greater Boston Food Bank, and various other suppliers. Farmer’s Market coupons are also available. Fresh produce and frozen protein deliveries are provided one to three times a month. Please contact the Senior Center if you are interested in participating in any of the food distribution programs available. Food programs are available to all Rochester residents.
The Rochester Senior Center continues to provide transportation services to and from local appointments, shopping and errands. Please make a reservation at least 24 hours in advance so that a driver can be scheduled. Donations are appreciated.