Jacqueline Hanlon
Retired telephone operator
Jacqueline J. (Dufour) Hanlon, a longtime Chelsea resident, passed away on January 5 at Life Care Center of Stoneham where she had been receiving supportive care for the past few months. She was 84 years old.
Born in Nashua, New Hampshire, the daughter of the late Alfred and Germaine Dufour, her family settled in Chelsea when she was a young child and she attended St. Rose Elementary and High School. A devoted wife and mother, Jacqueline also worked outside of the home as a telephone operator for New England Tel. and Tel, retiring after 25 years of service. Jacqueline enjoyed reading and spending time with her loving family.
She was the beloved wife of John J. Hanlon, Sr. of Chelsea; devoted mother of John Hanlon and his companion, Christine, Donald Hanlon and Daniel Hanlon, all of Chelsea, Sharon Marth of Fitchburg and the late Paul and Michael Hanlon. She is also survived by several loving grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren and by many other relatives.
Honoring Jacqueline’s wishes, funeral services will be private. To send expressions of sympathy, please visit www.AnthonyMemorial.com. Funeral Arrangements were entrusted to the care and direction of the Anthony Memorial / Frank A. Welsh and Sons Funeral Home.
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Gladys Hodgkins
Longtime Chelsea resident
Gladys M. (Williams) Hodgkins, a long time resident of Chelsea, passed away at the Eastpointe Nursing Care Center early Monday morning, January 5. She was 90 years old.
Born in Boston, she was the devoted wife of the late Paul A. Hodgkins, Sr.; beloved mother of Judith E. Buckley of Saugus and her late husband, Chelsea Police Officer James E. Buckley killed in the line of duty, Patricia A. Kowalski and her husband, Frank of Chelsea and the late Paul A. Hodgkins, Jr.; loving sister of Charlotte Caron of Chelsea, Claire Kubarsky of Tewksbury and Kenneth Williams of Chelsea. She is also lovingly survived by nine grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren as well as many nieces and nephews.
Family and friends are kindly invited to attend a Funeral Service in the Smith Funeral Home, 125 Washington Avenue, Chelsea today, Thursday, January 8 at 10 a.m. Visitation will be prior to the service beginning at 9 a.m. Services will conclude with interment at Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett.
To send a message of condolence to Gladys’ family please visit www.smithfuneralhomes.com
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William ‘Roy’ Butt
Chelsea Firefighter for 32 years
William “Roy” Butt of Chelsea passed away on January at the Epoch House in Melrose where he has recently been receiving supportive care. He was 92 years old.
Born in Broad Cove, Newfoundland, the beloved son of the late John W. and Jennie (Brennan) Butt, his parents settled in Chelsea when he was just an infant. Roy was raised in Chelsea, attended local schools and was a graduate of Chelsea High School, Class of 1940 where he excelled in Basketball and was Captain of the CHS Basketball Team.
,In 1942 Roy was inducted into the US Army Air Force and served throughout World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1946 at the rank of Staff Sergeant and returned to Chelsea. Shortly thereafter he courted and wed his high school sweetheart, Veronica Cronin. Together they raised their family of four daughters and one son.
In 1950, Roy joined the Chelsea Fire Department and served with the department proudly for the next 32 years. As a Firefighter, he was a charter member of the Chelsea Fire Dept. Color Guard. He was also a charter member of the Cary Square Assoc. in Chelsea.
During his lifetime, Roy was devoted to his family and was a true friend to many. His family is forever indebted and thankful to Melanie Maynard and Sandra Contreras for the personal care and dedication given to Roy, caring for him while in his home and thankful to the nurses and staff from Hallmark Hospice and VNA.
Roy is survived by his beloved wife 66 years, Vera M. (Cronin) Butt. He was the forever devoted father of Jane Frieden of Dorchester, Marie Washington and her husband, Allan and Ellen M. Butt, all of Chelsea, Karen E. Butt of Concord and Roy Butt and his wife, Anna of Wakefield; cherished grandfather of Elizabeth Frieden of Salt Lake City, UT, Timothy Frieden and his wife, Nancy of Indianapolis, IN, Bryan and Thomas Butt, both of Wakefield; dear brother and brother-in–law of Anna Mae Rossi of Winthrop, the late Myrtle Adams, William Cronin and Catharine “Babe” Coyne. He is also survived by several cousins, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be conducted from the Frank A. Welsh & Sons Funeral Home, 718 Broadway, Chelsea on Friday, January 9 at 10 a.m. Services will conclude with Interment at Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett. Relatives and friends are most kindly invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held at the Welsh Funeral Home today, Thursday, from 4 to 8 p.m. The Funeral Home is fully handicap accessible, ample parking opposite Funeral Home.
The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Boston Home Activity Dept. Fund, 2049 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester MA 02124. For directions or to send expressions of sympathy, please visit
www.WelshFuneralHome.com
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Herbert David Savitz
A ‘Man’s Man’ – loved by everyone
Herbert David Savitz of Chelsea, Weston, Boston and Naples, Florida, entered into rest on December 26. He was 89 years old.
Herbert was born and raised in Chelsea, spoke Yiddish at home with his parents, played the drums in a dance band, graduated from the Shurtleff Elementary School and Chelsea High School and kept hold of his close Chelsea friends for the rest of his life.
He hoped to be a pilot, enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1943, was stationed in Greenland and started at first base for his squadron, despite being a lefty. Honorably discharged, he returned to Boston, opened Metro Trimming Company, and made a success of it for 40 years.
He married Adel in 1951 which was the high point of his life. He felt blessed and very lucky to be with her, and wondered aloud what she saw in him. He deferred to her judgment and intelligence in all matters. With the possible exception of athletic achievement, he felt that every good thing that happened to him, or to their children, was because of Adel.
Herb had charisma, passion, energy and the kind of enthusiasm that made everyone feel more alive in his presence. With great taste in everything, he collected art, antiques and chiming clocks and he was always impeccably dressed. Other than praising his wife, bragging endlessly about his sons and listening to jazz and big band records, his favorite pastime was laughing and getting others to laugh with him. He frequented Jack’s Joke Shop and purchased countless hand-buzzers, Groucho masks, and plastic dog poop which he left on beds and floors and in coat pockets. He read three newspapers a day and spent six weeks at Cambridge University taking a course on Winston Churchill.
Herb didn’t like animals but he put up with two dogs, an alligator, several snakes, numerous frogs, dozens of gerbils – all from the first two “males” – and a very large stump-tail baboon that was supposed to have been a small squirrel monkey. Herb was, above all else, dedicated to providing for his family, even if it meant getting up at night with the dog.
Herb was neat to the point of fastidious and went to his barber, “Mr. Chick,” every Friday for a trim and to swap jokes and stories about the North End and Chelsea. His nails were manicured and he wore Old Spice, smoked cigars, played golf and stood strongly for the proposition that “nothing beats a good steak.” Every pear, plum or apple he ever ate was first proclaimed to be “fruit of the gods!”
Always in the middle of the people he cared for, Herb was a role model and mentor to his nieces, nephews and many of his sons’ friends. Every morning at 6:30, he jogged with a group of 20 men from the Cambridge “Y” who were mostly there for the laughs.They all became fast friends and had breakfast together at the S&S Deli, five days a week, for 30 years. Herb was a “man’s man,” and everybody loved him.
He was the beloved husband of H. Adel (Shabshelowitz) Savitz for 63 years; devoted father of Andrew Savitz and his former wife, Penelope McGee Savitz of Chestnut Hill, H. Peter Savitz and his wife, Alisa of Greenwich, CT, Matthew Savitz of Weston, CT, and his former wife, Ann Chrisman of Westport, CT, and Jonathan Savitz and his wife, Kathy of Greenwich, CT; loving brother to Rita Gross and the late Lillian Pascal and Muriel Fritz and the adored grandfather of Louis, Daniel, Elliot, Sophia, Julianna, Jonah, Sarah, Olivia, Jacob, Noah, Zuzzie and Harry Savitz.
Services were held at the Waring Memorial Home, 178 Winter Street, Fall River . Interment was at the Hebrew Cemetery, 73 McMahon Street, Fall River.
Donations in Herb’s memory may be sent to the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston MA, the Walnut Street Shul, Chelsea MA, or the Cambridge YMCA.
Online condolences may be offered at www.stanetsky.com