In reviewing five years of texts with her friend Anthony “Tony” Lumley, Sr., Wellesley’s Betsy Komjathy says it was all about him being “proactive, supportive and in good humor” about his kids, as well as their schoolmates. “He was such a present parent,” Komjathy says.

Wellesley and beyond are now mourning Lumley, a Boston resident who passed away from coronavirus on Dec. 22 at the age of 56.

A fundraiser has been launched to support the family during this most difficult time. All funds raised will be used to help support the Lumley children with unforeseen medical and living expenses, as well as college tuition.

Lumley is survived by his four children, who like himself, all took part in the METCO educational program for Boston residents, as well as two grandchildren and his fiancee Gwen Johnson. His oldest son, Eric, graduated from Wayland High School; Nykia and Anthony, Jr., graduated from Wellesley High, and Samone will graduate from Wellesley High in the spring. Lumley’s aunt, Carla Lumley, works for the Wellesley METCO program.

According to the fundraiser, organized by Lumley’s mother Beverley and Wellesley High’s Diane Zinck, “To say ‘Mr. Tony’ was a loyal family man is an understatement. As a loving single father, his entire world centered around loving, providing for and taking care of his beloved children and grandchildren. Lumley was a father who seemed to have the power to be in three places at once. He supported all of his children at all times, attending every single cheerleading event, football game, basketball game, and educational ceremony.”

Lumley’s mother told us that “My son Anthony had a huge presence in the Wellesley school system and the community. He and his children were quite well known.”

According to Anthony Lumley, Sr.’s formal obituary, the Annual Caribbean Festival was among his yearly highlights, when he opened his home and shared a BBQ “that gave us all an opportunity to gather at the end of the summer and enjoy each other’s company.”

Komjathy, a Friends of Wellesley METCO board member, says when she recalls Lumley she thinks of the pride he had in his kids.

“He went to all of their activities that he possibly could, and if he wasn’t at something, it was because he was at another kid’s event,’ she says, fondly recalling sitting near him and family members at sports events. Lumley epitomized being part of the two-way community that the METCO program hopes to foster, she says, as he felt part of both the Boston and Wellesley communities.

Services for Anthony Lumley, Sr., take place on Jan. 11 in Mattapan at Davis Funeral Home.