Ellen A. Gagnon (Dec. 31, 1935 – Dec. 18, 2024)

Ellen A. (McBurney) Gagnon, 88, of Venice, Florida passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. She was the beloved wife of the late Ernest J Gagnon for 64 years.

Ellen retired as an Executive Vice President of the Wellesley Co-Operative Bank. She was involved with the Wellesley Chamber of Commerce. She also was a very active member of the Rotary Club of Wellesley serving as President for a one year term. Ellen was also involved in many town activities in Wellesley and numerous clubs in Venice, serving as Treasurer for the golf league in Venice. She also did fundraising for Children’s Hospital Boston, Department of Cardiology.

Ellen was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts and lived most of her life there. She spent the last 20 years in Venice, Florida. She was pre deceased by her parents, Arthur William and Jane (Graham) McBurney, her brother John McBurney and sister Jane M. Thomas. She is survived by her son Daniel Gagnon of Concord, New Hampshire; daughter Cheryl Dosdall (Jeff) of Wellesley Massachusetts; son Francis Gagnon (Barbara) of Natick Massachusetts; daughter, Catherine Smith of Dudley, Massachusetts; grandchildren, Robert (Samira), Krystel, Andrew (Laura), Laura (John), Ashley, Michael and Christian; and 10 great grandchildren; Isaiah, Elijah, Ryan, Dylan, Layla, Grayson, Everleigh, Shane, Sydney, Jackson and Cameron and many nieces and nephews. She had a great love and appreciation for all.

Ellen had many interests that she shared with family and friends. She loved traveling out west with her husband and friends on motorcycles. She even drove a three wheeled motorcycle in the Wellesley parade. Ellen also loved golf especially here in Venice with friends and family. She also enjoyed the concerts and many activities here in Bay Indies. She really enjoyed playing cards with her friends in the Wednesday night card group. In her downtime, Ellen was an avid reader, liked to crochet and do her puzzles. She had a subtle sense of humor with a mischievous grin.

Services to be announced at a later date. Donations can be directed to: Tidewell Hospice, 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34238 or Boston Children’s Hospital, Department of Cardiology, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115.

To share a memory or to send a condolence to the family visit www.farleyfuneralhome.com.

Wellesley is mourning the death and remembering the lifetime of service of Walter Woods, who passed away at the age of 106, on Jan. 2, 2025, after a brief stay at Elizabeth Seton Residence, where he was receiving care for recent health issues. Walter was preceded in death by his wife Mary. He is survived by four children, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Here’s the formal obituary for Walter Woods.

Town officials were fortunate to visit with Woods a few days before he passed, presenting him with the ceremonial Boston Cane on Dec. 30, 2024, at Elizabeth Seton. The cane is conferred each year to the town’s eldest resident.

Walter, an MIT graduate (1942) and talented engineer who once worked for NASA, is well-known for his many contributions to Wellesley and his dedication and influence as a Town government volunteer.

According to his obituary, Woods was on the “Wellesley Board of Public Works for 16 years; Town Meeting Member from Precinct A for 53 years and a Town Representative to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), which he helped establish in 1985, and on which he served for 32 years until his 99th birthday. As a chair of the Regional Committee, in 1996 Walter worked to help lease 36 acres of Elm Bank land to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.”

Services for Walter Woods

Visitation at the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, 477 Washington Street, Wellesley, on Wednesday, January 8, from 4-7pm. Funeral Mass on Thursday, January 9, in St. Paul Church, Wellesley, at 10am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Interment in Woodlawn Cemetery, Wellesley. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations in memory of Walter Woods to be made to the Wellesley Council on Aging, 500 Washington St., Wellesley, MA 02482.

Editor’s note: It has been two months since the tragic passing of Natalie Gubbay, age 26. Natalie, a Wellesley High School graduate, died on October 23, in  Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a senseless car accident caused by a reckless drunk driver. She was waiting at a stop light, coming home from a trivia night with friends.

Her family has sent words of remembrance on the two-month anniversary without their daughter and sister.

Remembering Natalie

It has been two months. Two months of gut wrenching, soul stripping, physical and emotional, agonizing pain. In my journal I describe it as “feeling a hole inside us so large and empty and hollow that it is like having a severe stomach bug and a feeling of starvation at the same time. A huge anxious pit that can never go away.” Our dear, beautiful Natalie, aged 26, killed by a drunk driver while waiting at a stop light in downtown Minneapolis. The day after the crash, she was supposed to be on a plane to Charlottesville, visiting her 21-year-old sister Olivia and her Mom and Dad for parents’ weekend at UVA. She was so looking forward to it.

There is a before, and there is an after. We will never be the same.

It’s the holidays. We should be anticipating Natalie coming home to where she grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Where she has never missed a Christmas or a Thanksgiving. She would be telling us her latest news from Minneapolis. How she was happy that she had completed her National Science Foundation Scholarship proposal and her PhD applications. She would be sitting in a coffee shop with friends, discussing books and gift swap ideas, going for a last run in the cold before getting on a plane home. Once here our usual activities would resume. Cooking for sure. The girls would take over the kitchen for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, much to our delight, and many adventurous vegetarian dishes would be conjured up. We would be going on walks and hikes, visiting friends and neighbors, sitting around the fire pit, playing games, Catan, hearts, spades or anything involving a ball from ping pong to pickle ball or paddle tennis, to throwing a football back and forth while walking the dog through the neighborhood, and of course, watching Harry Potter movies.

Natalie had virtually no social media, never had a TV. She lived in the real world around her, always active, always curious, talking with people, never sitting around. Every Thursday she volunteered teaching English to Spanish-speaking adults. She regularly gave her time at a homeless center. Her roommate told us that on hot days she would buy bottled water and hand it out to the homeless, and on frigid Minnesota winter days she would spend her money to buy hand warmers to hand out. Nat dedicated her personal time to helping others less fortunate, being present, connecting with others.

Natalie was a young adult about to embark on her next chapter. Soaring forth, with her characteristic drive of always caring for others, living simply and without excess, and bringing community with her. She was unique. A 26-year-old with a brilliant mind and a caring heart, an old soul daring to dream of a better world. Senselessly taken from us and the world just as she was coming into her own.

It’s hard to accept that we will never get our beautiful Natalie back.

Dear, beautiful Nat,
We love you so, so much,
But you were taken away
There’s nothing more to say
The poem ends
Soft, as it began
We miss you so, so much
Our dear, beautiful Nat.

Natalie has a memorial at Woodlawn Cemetery, which we refer to as Natalie’s Rock. As the engraving says, she will be in our hearts and minds forever.

We love you so much Nat,

Rachel (mom), Keith (dad) and Olivia (sister)

Peter Offenhartz was born on June 6, 1939, in Brooklyn, NY, to Harry and Eileen Offenhartz, the eldest of three boys. When Peter was five, the family moved to Croton-on-Hudson, NY, settling on West Mt. Airy Road—often called “Red Hill” due to the number of communists living nearby. Peter and his younger brother Colin enjoyed a free-spirited childhood in the countryside, spending their days fishing, skiing, and walking miles to visit friends or the village.

During high school, Peter showcased his adventurous spirit. After skipping 11th grade, he spent his summers bicycling through Ireland (where he visited his mother’s relatives), Wales, England, and France. He also toured Italy with the American Youth Abroad program. Graduating from Croton Harmon High School in just three years, Peter went on to attend Swarthmore College, where he met the love of his life, Barbara Hopf.

Peter and Barbara, both Chemistry majors, quickly formed a bond. Barbara, a year ahead of Peter, graduated in 1960 with honors. They married on May 29, 1960, just a week shy of Peter’s 21st birthday, with his parents’ permission. Their honeymoon was a hitchhiking adventure through Europe, visiting Ireland, Norway, Denmark, and Germany—a prelude to their lifetime of travel. Their first child, Kathleen, was conceived during this trip and born on May 6, 1961.

Peter joined Barbara at the University of Pennsylvania in 1960, where they both earned doctorates in Physical Chemistry by 1963. They then received fellowships to study in Cambridge, England, under Christopher Longuet-Higgins. Following this, the family embarked on a remarkable journey via the Trans-Siberian Railroad, stopping in Warsaw, Moscow, and Nahodka before sailing to Japan. In Tokyo, Peter and Barbara began NIH fellowships at the Institute of Solid State Physics under Satoru Sugano. Their son, John Ken, was born during a typhoon on September 25, 1964.

From Tokyo, the family traveled through Hawaii and San Francisco before settling in Boulder, Colorado,where Peter taught at the University of Colorado and authored a Quantum Chemistry textbook. After two years, the family moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, where Peter continued teaching and wrote another textbook. His career later took the family to Strasbourg, France, for a year, during which they also explored Africa. Upon returning to Amherst College, Peter pursued his passion for aviation, flying his family across the country several times in a Mooney airplane he purchased.

The family eventually moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts, where Peter worked for the Physical Sciences Group and later founded his own software companies, including Starbuck Data, Software Taylors, Inc., and Matt Timekeeping Systems, Inc. He semi-retired at 65 but continued to explore the world with Barbara.

In retirement, Peter was an active writer with the Wellesley Weston Lifetime Learners Memoir course. He and Barbara were founding members of Wellesley Neighbors in 2011, participating in the Short Story Group, The Playreading Group, and the New Yorker Discussion group. He also served as webmaster and was integral to the tech team until shortly before his death.

Summers were spent at their beloved home on Eagle Island, where they hosted family and friends at “Offenhouse” and sailed the Penobscot Bay. As their children grew, Peter and Barbara traveled extensively, exploring the Silk Road, Sicily, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, and countless ski destinations in Europe and the United States.

Peter will be remembered as an adventurous traveler, devoted husband, and gracious host. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; children, Kathleen and John Ken; daughters-in-law, Kiva and Victoria; grandchildren, Corrin, Claire, and Sean; brothers, Colin and Douglas; and nieces and nephews, Jesse, Ryan, and Caitlin.

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