Vivian Epstein
Very involved in the Chelsea Community
Vivian (Zolot) Epstein of Reading, formerly of Chelsea, passed away peacefully on August 14, 2025 at the age of 104.
Vivian was the beloved wife of the late Jacob “Jack” Epstein and the loving daughter of the late Harry and Lena Zolot.
Vivian was born in Chelsea and attended the Chelsea schools before earning a Business Degree from Burdett College in Boston. She was very involved in the community as a Past President of the Jewish War Veterans Ladies Auxiliary #71, a member of the Chelsea Pioneer Woman, as well as a Girl Scout Leader. She volunteered for the USO during World War II and also served as Past President of the Orange Street Synagogue Sisterhood. When she was not volunteering or spending time with family, Vivian could often be seen walking around in Rockport or Gloucester or home doing ceramics and various arts and crafts projects.
Vivian was the devoted mother of Larry Epstein and his wife, Mavis, Beverly Burack and her husband, Mark and the late Cynthia Epstein. She was the loving grandmother of Corey and his wife, Marnie, Barry and his wife, Gina, Lisa, Brandon and Sydnie and her fiancé, Troy. She also leaves behind six great-grandchildren: Chris and his wife, Liz, Allana and her husband, Ezra, Jacob, Ryan, Lillia and Hayliee.
Services were held on Monday, August 18 at the Torf Funeral Chapel, 151 Washington Avenue, Chelsea. Interment followed in West Roxbury. Donations in Vivian’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or to a charity of your choice.
Memorial observance was at the home of Larry and Mavis Epstein following interment.
Mamie Lee Robinson Lopez
November 10, 1957 – August 12, 2025
The family of Mamie Lee Robinson Lopez will hold a family hour and visitation today, Thursday, August 21, beginning at 10 a.m. at Emmanuel Baptist Church, located at 20 Hillside Avenue, Malden. This will be followed by a homegoing service at 11 a.m. Relatives and friends are warmly invited to join in honoring Mamie’s life and legacy. Services will conclude with a procession to her final resting place at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
The appointed time for Mamie Lee, affectionately known by family as “Lee, Leeko, T Lee, Mamie T Lee” was on November 10, 1957, and she was welcomed by her parents, Louise and James Robinson and four siblings in Albany, GA. In 1959, as a toddler, she along with her siblings, became a part of the Great Migration and moved to Chelsea , joining other family members who had previously left the south for a better life.
In the late 50’s and early 60’s, Chelsea was a good place to raise a family and in a family of eight children, not only did she have lifelong friends, but she also had seven automatic playmates and babysitters. Always a curious child with a bold spirit, Mamie was the one that you could count on to get the “tea”, the 411 on any situation – a trait she honed to perfection. And she stayed busy with her many “best friends” that she met in the Orange and Spruce streets neighborhood, at Carter Junior High School, Choice Thru Education and certainly at Chelsea High School. She had an engaging personality and often made strangers into some of her new friends.
Upon graduation from Chelsea High School, she graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor’s degree. Although trained to teach, she was encouraged to join the workforce at today’s Verizon that used to be Ma Bell, New England Telephone, NYNEX, Bell Atlantic. With persistence and grit, she stayed through all those transitions, and she rose from being a 411- Information Operator through the ranks to become a Project Manager of new installations
Mamie left her position to enjoy a less stressful life, though not totally retired. She had a heart for the veterans and took a supervisor position at the New England Center and Home for Veterans in Boston, She also especially enjoyed working the polls during the municipal and general elections; she got to see a lot of the “old Chelsea” people and reminisce.
Remember those strangers that became her friends, well one of those strangers was Michael Byron Lopez who not only became a friend, but they were so love- connected that he was also her date for both Junior and Senior proms. In 1981, friendship became the foundation of their marriage that would last 40 years, until he transitioned to his eternal rest in 2021. To their union, they added children Louise Autumn-Joi, Amber Lee and Michael Byron. Michael might have been her one-true-love, but Mamie’s family was her life’s joy and she was the world’s #1 Protector of all things involving her children. If you ever saw her cheering at any of their basketball, football, or cheerleading competitions, she was the picture of a fiercely protective “Mama Bear”.
Mamie loved her family. She was fiercely loyal to her brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. And she loved being at all the family celebrations to laugh so hard you couldn’t figure out what she was laughing about. She was famous for her “lasagna” and she could whip one up real quick. She loved to sing and was subject to break out in song whether you wanted to hear it or not. And she liked to dance, especially to entertain her children and grandbabies, to romance her husband and sometimes just because.
Anyone who knew her also knew she had her “happy place”, Foxwoods Casino, so much so that she could probably tell you how long it would take you to drive from Chelsea at just about any hour of the day. Like most of the family, Mamie loved the Patriots and the Celtics and she thoroughly enjoyed cheering any of the Chelsea teams to victory. And long before “photobombing” was a happening, Mamie Lee wanted to make sure everyone remembered her and she showed up in lots of other people’s wedding, family reunion, graduation and first day of school pictures.
A long-time member of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Mamie loved Pastor Wayne Gadie and her church family. She enjoyed working and volunteering in the church, was an enthusiastic member of the Choir where she met another BFF, Gwen Shelton. The two of them became fast allies and loyal friends. She also participated in the Women’s Ministry, was not only a member of the Trustee Board but also served as its Chair. She enjoyed welcoming members and visitors as an Usher and had also served as Chair of the Usher Ministry. If an event was happening at the church, that’s where you would probably find Mamie.
God in His infinite wisdom called Mamie Lee Robinson-Lopez home to her eternal rest on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. She was predeceased by her parents, Louise and James Robinson, her husband, Michael, her sister, Irena Wilkerson, her brother, Donald Robinson and her very special Aunt, Mamie Bridges and Uncle, Jim Bridges as well as her special niece and nephew, Trina and Reginal Wilkerson.
Mamie leaves to cherish her memory, her daughters: Louise Autumn-Joi ( Jacqueline Garcia – Attleboro), and Amber Lee and her son, Michael Byron ( both of Chelsea), grandchildren: Jaelyn Echevarria, Jeilani Echevarria, Z’Andre Lopez, Orlando Echevarria and Omari Lopez; siblings Gwendolyn Robinson Greene (Greenville NC), James Robinson, Jr. (Chelsea) Terry Robinson (Chelsea), Jacqueline Robinson-Perry (Jersey City, NJ) and Margaret Robinson Williams (Chelsea), sisters-in-law, Carol M. Lopez, Margo M. D. Lopez, brothers-in-law David (Ruby) Lopez, Martin P. (Shirley) Lopez, Kenny A. Lopez along with a host of wonderful nieces, nephews, cousins, lifelong friends and her Facebook friends who really enjoyed her wit and ongoing commentary. Mamie Lee Robinson-Lopez will be sorely missed as a mother, sister, cousin and true friend.
To send expressions of sympathy, visit www.welshfh.com.