Memorial

He was born June 17, 1923 in Bellow Falls, Vt., the youngest child of Frank Shaughnessy and Mary Gallagher. Mr. Shaughnessy grew up on the banks of the Connecticut River in North Walpole, N.H., across from Bellow Falls where he was altar boy and golf caddy. He worked in the market run by his family and graduated from North Walpole High School in 1939. His siblings were the late Edward Shaughnessy of Piedmont, Mo., and Sister Eleanor Shaughnessy of Windham, N.H. He is survived by his sisters, Mary and Frances Shaughnessy of North Walpole.

Mr. Shaughnessy entered the Army in 1943 and soon joined the Office of Strategic Services where he was a communications specialist in the Japanese theatre of war. Later in his life he enjoyed regaling his grandchildren about his service time in Sri Lanka where he rode elephants and had a mongoose named Jimmy. He finished serving in 1945 and used the G.I. Bill to obtain a B.Sc. cum laude in business administration from University of New Hampshire in 1949 and an MBA from Boston University in 1950.
He was an audit manager with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Boston for the next 10 years and then a division controller for Itek Corp. in Rochester, N.Y., for another five years. In 1966 he became the treasurer of both the Boston Lockport Co. as well as the clothing retail store Johnny Appleseeds in Beverly. He held that position until he retired in 1989. He was a very highly regarded colleague throughout his career.

His friends Bill Curly and Tom McGillicuddy introduced him to his wife, the late Anne Murphy, and they were married in 1958. They moved to Hickory Road in Sudbury in 1963 where they raised their children, Frank, Maura and Anne. Jim and Anne’s neighborhood parties were well known for being musical and fun. They were active members of Our Lady of Fatima church and they supported many other parts of the community.
Mr. Shaughnessy was a tenor in the Wayland Golden Tones for the last 11 years of his life where he was known as the "Sudbury Thrush." In his extended family he was particularly appreciated for his Irish songs, good cheer, and his willingness to wear a tutu and a wig.

He is survived by his son, Frank Shaughnessy and his wife, Christel, who live with their children, Dion and Fiona, in Arcata, Calif.; his daughter, Maura Shaughnessy and her husband, Bernie Regenauer who live with their children, Colin and Brendan in Wayland; and his daughter, Anne Shaughnessy who lives with her partner, Susan Epting in Groton.

The funeral service was held Jan. 19, 2008. Arrangements were by Duckett Funeral Home in Sudbury. Donations in his name may be made to the Golden Tones, 41 Cochituate Road, Wayland, MA 01778.

Eleonore H. Burgess, 82, of Hudson , died Friday, August 24, 2007 at Marlborough Hospital. She was the wife of George H. Burgess who died in 2000.

Born in Manheim, Germany, she was the daughter of the late Schmied Eugen and Anna Weinacht.
A Hudson resident for many decades, she was a member of the Immaculate Conception Church in Marlborough.

She leaves one brother, Berhard Weinacht, in Germany.

Eleonore will be remembered for her enthusiastic participation in the senior chorus Golden Tones, with whom she became a soprano soloist and a devoted volunteer to their mission of bringing song and joy to area nursing home residents, community events and intergenerational activities. She worked tireless hours to ensure the success of the group and was a strong supporter of its position as a Field Education Site for Andover Newton Theological School students, as well as a funder of the Golden Tones internship program and member of its intern committee. She was a talented gardener and devoted friend. A funeral Mass will be held Thursday, September 27 at 9 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Church of Marlborough. Burial will follow in Forest Vale Cemetery in Hudson. There will be no visiting hours. Arrangements are under the direction of John C. Bryant Funeral Home of Wayland.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Golden Tones, 41 Cochituate Road, Wayland, MA 01778.

WAYLAND - Gertrude F. "Trudy"' Kendall, 90, died peacefully Sunday, May 6, 2007, at Wingate at Sudbury following a declining period of health.

She was born in Manchester, N.H., the daughter of the late Albert and Bella (Genest) Kendall.
A resident of Wayland for many years, and previously of Guilford, N.H., she was a graduate of Arlington High School and attended Lesley School of Cambridge.

She had a long and distinguished career in the field of food services, as a dietician with Sky Chefs Inc. and, for many years prior to retirement, she was the food supervisor for Howard Johnson Co. out of Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C. During World War II she volunteered at the Watertown Arsenal. In her later years she managed the food services for the Audubon Society Camp at Medomak, Maine.

A lover of music, Miss Kendall was proud to be a member of the Golden Tones of Wayland, and in recent years, was able to attend the Golden Tones concerts to enjoy hearing her many friends perform, thanks to her niece, Susan. She enjoyed traveling, especially in 1987 when she was able to travel to Ireland.

She was a loving and devoted sister, aunt and great-aunt to her entire family.

She leaves her brother, John L. Kendall of Waltham; niece and nephew, Susan M. Kadzis and her husband, John A., of Wayland and John S. Kendall and his wife, Gayle, of Medfield; great-niece and great-nephews, Deborah Kendall and Steven L. and John Kendall; her godchild, Jean McDonald and her husband, Edward, of Weymouth; and her sister-in-law, Helen Kendall of Somerville.

She was the sister of the late Alberta M. and Lawrence Kendall.

Visiting hours will be held Wednesday, May 9, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., at the John C. Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road (off Rte. 30), Wayland.

A graveside service will be held Wednesday, May 9, at 2 p.m., in the Kendall family lot in St. Joseph Cemetery, 448 Donald St., Bedford, N.H.

Instead of flowers, her family asks that memorial donations be sent to the Golden Tones Inc., 241 Boston Post Road, Wayland, MA 01778.

There was a song we often sang when Mary was in the Golden Tones. The chorus goes like this:
For it was Mary, Mary, plain as any name can be.
But with propriety, society will say Marie.
But it was Mary, Mary, long before the fashions came;
And there was something there that sounds so fair,
It’s a grand old name.

I met Mary the first time on a Tuesday in the fall of 1988 when I went to the Wayland Senior Center to lead the group which eventually became the Golden Tones. Mary was one of the first ten singers I found there that day. Mary was an integral part of the founding of the Golden Tones—in fact, I truly believe that there would not be a Golden Tones today if Mary had not been part of it. She was definitely the driving force behind wanting to perform for audiences. Many of my early memories of directing the group have Mary front and center: Mary singing the verse to Galway Bay:

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,
Then maybe at the closing of your day,
You will sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay.

Mary was definitely not shy in front of an audience! Who in the Golden Tones and our audiences in our early years can forget Mary sashaying up the aisle with her pink feather boa while Ken Lavers sang the verse to “Ain’t She Sweet”:
There she is, there she is, there’s what keeps me up at night.” Mary keep always get Ken to blush from the tips of his toes to the top of his bald head with one fling of that feathery boa and a cast of those “flaming eyes”, as the song lyric says!

So many memories. Last year my parents, our soloist Dick Close and I visited Mary in her nursing home in Everett. Her daughter Marie didn’t think she would remember us, as her memory issues had progressed significantly at that point. But she recognized me right away and when we started singing, she remembered her words. She was rapt and proud when Dick and Marie sang their duet, My Hero. And happy to be once more immersed in the music.

This week I found a testimony that Mary wrote in July 1994 on the occasion of my leading worship at the First Parish in Wayland, where I am now Affiliate Minister. She started her words by saying this: “When I heard of the Golden Tones, I just couldn’t resist the opportunity of joining them, especially since my love of music knows no bounds.” She went on to write of the thesis of the Golden Tones which she described as “how to help the elderly through song and music as a healing process.”

She used to call me “teacher” but I have to say that she was also my teacher. After her unfortunate accident in 1991, she had significant injuries which required a two month hospital stay and physical therapists. I have to say that after the car accident that happened to me this year, I thought of Mary often. She had grit and determination and she did get back on her feet and back to performing in the Golden Tones. More memories! Not only did she get back on her feet, but she actually learned how to do a Chinese dance taught to her by one of our sopranos, Yung Chang, complete with a costume, which they performed in our first gala concert for the community after we became a non-profit in 1997.

Mary was special. Any time a photographer from a newspaper would visit a Golden Tones event, the camera would naturally go to her. She was expressive, she was caring, and she was fun. Mary understood the spiritual side and the healing activity of what we do in the Golden Tones from very early on. She was an integral part of my own understanding of the Golden Tones program as ministry. And, yes, just as Mary was special to me, I know she was special to many of you. So you can be telling each other Mary stories in the days and weeks ahead. There are plenty of them to tell! Those stories will keep Mary’s memory alive among us, her friends and family, even as Mary herself has seen her sun go down for the last time on Galway Bay.

PEABODY - Ann (Zajackowski) Dansro resident of Brooksby Village, Peabody, MA formerly of Sudbury, MA for over 48 years died in her sleep on Friday, November 21, 2003 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She was the wife of the late William J. Dansro, Jr. who died in 2002. She leaves her daughters, Renee Dansro Chase of Salt Lake City, UT, and Denise Dansro Timmons and her husband Steve of Madison, NJ. her most precious triplet granddaughters, Elizabeth, Meghan and Sarah Timmons, sisters Rose Malinowski of Tucson, AZ. Nancy Cavin of Chicopee, MA brother Walter Zajac of Tucson, AZ. niece Margie Feil of Las Vegas, NV nephew Peter Malinowski of Santa Barbara, CA and cousin Anne Harasik of Springfield, MA and many more family members. She was born in Ludlow, MA October 6, 1924 the daughter of Fred and Mary Zajackowski. She graduated from Ludlow High School in 1942 and Bay Path College in Longmeadow, MA in 1948 as a medical secretary. She served as a Marine Reserve in 1954, and worked at Monsanto Chemical during World War II. She worked at Metro West Hospital, and in the offices of Dr. Adner and Dr. Coco, at Framingham Union Hospital and later retired from Digital in 1989. Known as the "Hat Lady Annie" she was very active in the Sudbury Strutters performing in more than 8 shows, tap dancing at the age of 60. She participated in many events at the Fairbanks Senior Center, was a member of the Golden Tones and League of Women Voters. She loved to ride her bike, cross country ski, braid rugs, knit and had been writing poetry for over 10 years. Several achievements include an award from the Poetry Society in Washington, and a bronze medal in the Senior Olympics 100 meter track event. In lieu of flowers, Ann requested that donations be sent to The Cancer Center of Boston, care of Dr. Frank Coco, 125 Parker Hill Avenue, Boston, MA 01220, Bay Path College, 588 Longmeadow Street, Longmeadow, MA. 01106 or The Golden Tones, 41 Cochituate Rd., Wayland MA 01778. Calling hours will be held at the Duckett Funeral Home, Boston Post Road, Sudbury, MA. on Tuesday Nov. 25, 2003 from 3:00-7:00 pm. A Funeral Mass will be at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Sudbury, Mass on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. Internment will be at Wadsworth Cemetery,Concord Road, Sudbury.
Published in The Republican on 11/23/2003.