Obituaries 10-24-2019

Richard Racki

40-Year Cab Driver, will be remembered for his warm and peaceful heart

A Funeral Mass was celebrated in the Immaculate Conception Church in Everett on Friday, Oct. 18 for Richard A. Racki who passed away at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston surrounded by his loving family on Oct.13. He was 77 years old. Interment was in Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden.

Born and raised in Chelsea, he attended St. Stanislaus Elementary School and was a proud graduate of Chelsea High School, Class of 1960.

The majority of Richard’s working career was spent as a veteran taxi-cab driver using his uncanny mass of knowledge of the geographic of Everett, Malden, Revere, Chelsea, East Boston and the surrounding communities. He spent over 40 years in the Taxi-Industry, with Independent Cab and Yellow Cab in Chelsea. A Chelsea native, Richard has been a resident of Everett for the past 35 years. One of his passions was for the game of bowling. He held a fifty-year membership with the Sportsmen’s Bowling League on the Lynnway in Lynn and also a membership with the Pro Bowling League of the North Shore. Richie also held affiliations with the Merritt Club of Chelsea and the former Chelsea Lodge of the Moose #736.

In true spirit to his large personality, he offered on many occasions to orchestrate events as a D.J. for family and friends. For many years, he worked with the organization “Parents Without Partners” as a D. J. He will be remembered by his family and friends for his warm and peaceful heart and his ability to rule as a peacemaker.

He was the beloved husband of Laura M. Bessler of Everett; devoted father of Roberta L. Racki of Chelsea, Brian R. Racki and his wife, Athanasia of Lynn, Nicole A. Bessler of Freetown and Matthew J. Bessler and his wife, Michelle of Everett; cherished grandfather of Ottavia J. Racki of Chelsea, Stephanie A. Racki of Allston, Myranda and Taylor Newton, both of Dracut, Cameron Newton of Woburn and Sydnee, Erin, Macayla and Alyssa Bessler, all of Everett. He was the adored great-grandfather of Giovanni, Izaiah, Dante, Ayla and Wyatt; dear brother of Nathalie Bernard and her husband, Robert of Revere, Anthony Racki and his wife, Genevieve of Lynn, Gregory Racki and his companion Nancy, of Revere, James Racki and his wife, Nancy of South Carolina and the late Frances Oreto and the former husband of the late Deborah (Vannelli) Racki. He is also lovingly survived by many nieces and nephews.

Funeral arrangements were under the care and direction of the Vertuccio & Smith, Home for Funerals, Revere. To send online condolences, please visit www.vertuccioandsmith.com.

Barbara Quinn

Of Chelsea

Barbara J. (Palmer) Quinn of Chelsea passed away peacefully on Oct. 18 at the age of 88. She was the cherished daughter of the late

William and Jennie (Kitson) Palmer, loving mother of Carol Quinn, Donna Hedges and her husband, Donald, Jennifer Ricciardi and her

former husband, Gerald, Arthur Brian Quinn, Alison Quinn and her former husband, Antonio Ferrentino and the late Elaine Decker, Karen

Joan Quinn and Eugene William Quinn; dear sister of the late Agnes (Palmer) Darby and June Basile; adored grandmother of Gerald

Ricciardi Jr, Angelica Ricciardi, Valerio Ferrentino, Shalimar Tarek, Katrina Alhussein, Jessica Decker, Rebecca Bennett,and Lauren Decker and caring and loving in laws, Cynthia and Samuel Coppola and the late Mary Ricciardi. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews. Barbara will be sorely missed by all her family and friends.

At Barbara’s request, all services are private. For online guest book, please visit

www.vazzafunerals.com

Elizabeth Bouche

Sept. 24, 1954 – Oct. 16, 2019

Elizabeth Bouche ‘Miss Liz’ passed away unexpectedly at her home in Chelsea on Wednesday evening, Oct. 16.  She was 65 years old. 

Born in Somerville, Elizabeth was the daughter of the late Bernadette M. Stephenson.  She grew up in Charlestown and attended Charlestown public schools, graduating from Charlestown High School, Class of 1972.  After high school Liz attended Boston Business School to receive her Associates Degree in Business. 

Throughout all of her working career, she has worked for Verizon in Boston, dedicating over 25 years of service to the company.  She held the position of Executive Assistant in the SOEC-SS group. 

Liz has been a longtime resident of Chelsea for 45 years.  She was a member of the CWA Local 1400. 

Liz had so much love for all her family and close friends.  She would leave all of you with this special message, “I LOVE YOU, BE GOOD!” 

Liz will be deeply missed by all who loved her.  She was the wife of the late Edward E. Bouche, Sr.; beloved significant other and companion of 17 years of Michael Lewis of Chelsea; devoted mother of Edward E. Bouche, Jr. and his wife, Lisa M. of Derry and NH, Joseph A. Bouche of Chelsea; dear sister of Claire Semler and her husband, Ron of Medford, Francis Stephenson of Chelsea and the late Bernadette Seward, David R. Kiddie, III and the cherished grandmother of Rachel Elizabeth Bouche and Alexander Edward Bouche, both of Derry, NH.  She is also lovingly survived by many nieces and nephews and by her best friend Bettyann Zajac Bouche and her husband, William Bouche, III of Saugus.  

Funeral arrangements were by the Anthony Memorial – Welsh Funeral Home, Chelsea. Committal was private.  In lieu of flowers, donations in Miss Liz’s memory may be made to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 15829, Arlington, VA 22215 or on-line at www.diabetes.org.

Claire Sledzinski

Oct. 25, 1924 – Oct. 20, 2019

Claire V. (Barca) Sledzinski passed away after a brief illness on Sunday evening, Oct. 20 at the Sawtelle Family Hospice House in Reading.  She was 94 years old.

Born and raised in Belmont, the daughter of the late Gaetano and Marie Ann (Lauricella) Barca, Claire attended Belmont Public Schools, graduating from Belmont High School, Class of 1942. 

Claire moved to Chelsea when she turned 20 and she has been residing in the City ever since.  She was a waitress throughout all of her working career and she loved it.  She worked in various restaurants over the years but dedicated 20 years at Angelica’s Restaurant in Middleton. 

Claire was a late member of the Chelsea Senior Center, the Sons of Italy in Belmont/Watertown, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary and the Commission of the Blind in Winthrop.  She enjoyed playing cards, attending bingo, dancing and going to the beach. 

She will be greatly missed by her family and all of the lives she touched while waitressing.  

Claire was the wife of the late William J. Sledzinski, with whom she shared 25 years of marriage;  the beloved and devoted mother of Joanne Manchur of Brockton, Kathleen McEneny of Chelsea and the late Lawrence L. Riddell, Sr.; dear mother-in-law of Linda Riddell.  Claire was predeceased by five brothers and four sisters.  She is also lovingly survived by two grandchildren, Lawrence L. Riddell, Jr. and his wife, Karen of Wakefield and Brenda Riddell and her husband, Ken Goodridge of Rowley, one great grandson, Owen Riddell of Wakefield and numerous nieces and nephews. 

Her funeral will be from the Welsh Funeral Home, 718 Broadway, Chelsea on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10:30 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at Immaculate Conception Church, 133 Beach St., Revere at 11:30 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 on Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. The Funeral home is fully handicap accessible, ample parking opposite funeral home.  For directions or to send expressions of sympathy, please visit  www.WelshFuneralHome.com.

Dante Russo

Artisan, Certified Scuba Diving Instructor and Amateur Underwater Archaeologist and Photographer

Dante C. Russo of Grifton, North Carolina passed away after a long illness on Oct. 14 at The Courtyard Nursing Home in Medford.  He was 76 years old.

Born on March 15, 1943 in Boston and raised in Chelsea, Dante was the beloved son of the late John Russo and Concetta (Cucinotta) Russo.

 He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

His career as an artisan began while working in special effects for Universal Studios in Hollywood. He was also a certified scuba diving instructor and an amateur underwater archaeologist and photographer.

Although his photography took him from helicopter aerial shots to the Oscars in California, his true passion was creating art from the many artifacts he salvaged from the ocean. His creations included over 100 clocks made from the 200-year-old live oak wood and brass pins and nails from the Paul Revere foundry (also used in the USS Constitution), salvaged from the USS New Hampshire, which was built in 1819 and caught fire and sank off the coast of Manchester, Mass. in 1921.

He was the beloved son of the late John Russo and Concetta (Cucinotta) Russo, loving brother of John F. Russo and his wife, Susan of Reading, Sally Papandrea of Las Vegas, Nevada, and triplet brother of the late Anthony P. Russo and Joseph A. Russo; cherished uncle of Andrea Tieso and her husband, John, the late Gregory C. Russo, Angela Lewis and her husband, Johnny, Anthony Russo, Dante Russo and his wife, Shawnette, Steven Warwick, Lisa Papandrea, David Papandrea, and Gina Papandrea; dear great uncle of Madison, Brandon, Andrew, Whitney, Mariah, Aerionna, Reshawn, Evangeline, Gia, Tessa, Lana, David, Justine and Deanna.

All services were private.

Please consider making donations in Dante’s memory to Swift Creek Mennonite School, 1283 Honolulu Rd. Grifton, NC 28530, Saving Graces 4 Felines, SG4F, PO Box 4307, Greenville, NC 27836, or Continuum Care Hospice Foundation Inc. 5401 Old Redwood Hwy, Suite 110, Petaluma, CA 94954.

Arrangements by the Doherty – Barile Family Funeral Home in Reading, Mass. 

To send a memorial condolence visit www.barilefuneral.com or www.facebook.com/BarileFamilyFuneralHome.

Sharron-Dawn Telesetsky

Jan. 18, 1938 – Oct. 14, 2019

Sharron-Dawn Telesetsky passed peacefully Oct. 14.

The loving wife of Walter for more than 58 years., the couple lived in Rockville, Maryland for nearly 50 years where they raised their daughters. They previously lived in Billerica and Fairfax, Virginia. 

Sharron-Dawn was born in Big Timber, Montana. Her father was Paul Eugene Lamp and her mother was Ardath Alexandria (Goosey) Lamp. Her father was a chemical engineer who became a dairy farmer in Sweetgrass County, Montana. At age 11, Sharron-Dawn moved to San Antonio, Texas.

Sharron-Dawn was a brilliant scholar who obtained her undergraduate degree with honors from Incarnate Word University and did her graduate work at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she was a teaching fellow.

Although she was a biologist by education, she went to work for the Mitre Corporation in 1962 and performed studies evaluating how human behavior affected Air Force Command and Control Operation Systems. She left work in 1965 to raise her two loving daughters. 

Although she was an avid reader interested in learning about many subjects, her real passion was traveling. Fortunately, she was able to travel across the world both by land and sea. Her happiest travel days were when she was in Europe. She was an outstanding fashion designer, crafting her wedding dress as well as multiple matching mother-daughter outfits over the years.

She was a lifelong Episcopalian who attended worship services in all the places she lived.  She was a kind and gentle soul who lived by the philosophy that she wanted to be of service.

While she loved travelling, she always put her family first and cared deeply for them over the past six decades. She is survived by her husband Walter, daughters Stephanie and Anastasia, sons-in-laws Robert and Matthew, her nephew Wesley, and her nieces Melody, Marsha and Brenda.

Funeral arrangements were by the Anthony Memorial – Welsh Funeral Home, Chelsea.  A Eucharist Service at St. Luke’s Church, 201 Washington Ave Chelsea was followed by interment at Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett. 

Ellen Hamilton

30-year Employee of  the Department of Veterans Affairs

Ellen M. (Bowen) Hamilton passed away peacefully Saturday evening, Oct 19 at her friend’s home in West Palm Beach, Florida.  She was 62 years old. 

A lifelong resident of Chelsea, the daughter of the late Dennis J. and Lillian (Wedge) Bowen, Ellen attended Chelsea Public Schools and graduated from Chelsea High School, Class of 1975. 

Ellen dedicated her working career to the Department of Veterans Affairs in Boston.  She worked as a fiduciary for veterans, ensuring they received the compensation they were entitled to.  Ellen dedicated 30 years of service to Veterans Affairs. 

In her spare time, she enjoyed reading, dancing, going to concerts and shopping.  Most importantly, Ellen enjoyed spending time with her family and friends.  She will be greatly missed by all who loved her.    

The wife of the late Robert P. Hamilton, she was the beloved mother of Jessica L. (Bowen) Falzone and her husband, Michael of Revere, dear sister of Dennis Bowen and his significant other, Janet of Florida, Kevin Bowen and his wife, Mary of Rhode Island, Kathy Conlan and her husband, Ronald of Connecticut, Eileen Reddington and her husband, Jack of Woburn, Barbara Bowen and her significant other, Joe Wilton of New Hampshire and the late Christine Bowen.  She is also lovingly survived by three grandchildren: Gianni Falzone of Boston, Nicholas Falzone of Allston and Christian Falzone of Michigan and by many nieces and nephews. 

Her funeral will be held from the Welsh Funeral Home, 718 Broadway, Chelsea on Friday, Oct. 25 at 9 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at Immaculate Conception Church, 133 Beach St., Revere at 10 a.m. Interment is private.  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.  For directions or to send expressions of sympathy, please visit www.WelshFuneralHome.com

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