More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
Sister Julie McDonough, SNDdeN, is being remembered by the St. John-St. Paul Catholic Collaborative for her contributions over 25 as principal of Saint John School until 2005. She passed away on Dec. 25 in Worcester.
Sister McDonough, born Marilyn McDonough, is also being remembered by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, after 72 years of service.
Read Sister McDonough’s full obituary.
Our condolences to her friends and family.
Gladys C. Renzella of Wellesley passed away on December 24, 2022. Daughter of the late Pauline Harrington. She was the beloved wife of Benny (Bob) Renzella for 54 years. Loving mother of Jeffrey Renzella and his wife Maura, Andrew Renzella and his wife Debra. Cherished Grandmother of Dr. Kelly King, and fiance Kevin Czekanski, Griffin, Drew, Brady, Ryan, Caleigh, and Cailin Renzella. Devoted sister to Janet Johnston and her husband Tom; Gail Bellofatto and her husband Alden, Dennis Rousseau, Dr. Edwin Harrington and his wife Caroline, Robert Harrington and his wife Kate, and Michael Harrington. She leaves her sister-in-laws’ Helen DiGiandomenico and the late Carmello Teso and Gina D’Angelo as well as many nieces and nephews.
Gladys’ greatest joys in life revolved around her husband, children, and grandchildren. She loved hosting Christmas Eve Dinners, the Fourth of July on the Cape, and winter vacations in Florida. She loved attending her grandchildren’s sporting events, helping with their care at “Mimi School”, and hosting each grandchild’s birthday luncheon with little “itsy bitsy” gifts for all. She will be missed.
Services will be private with a celebration of life to follow at a later date.
We’re saddened to learn of the passing of Wellesley resident Price Meropol McMahon, who died on Dec. 20 at the age of 36 after complications from influenza (Full obituary). She is survived by her husband James, and children Rosalie and James.
An open house will be held on Friday, Dec. 23 at 64 Whittier Rd. in Wellesley from 10am-5pm.
A Gofundme campaign has been launched to establish a memorial fund for Price’s family.
More: Wellesley woman dies from flu complications: ‘A one-in-a-million case’
Jack Gregory (Greg) Barlage passed away on November 21, 2022, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston following a long and courageous battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. His wife Jennifer and his two sons Wyatt and Brennan were by his side.
Greg was born in Orange, California in 1968 to James and Virginia (Clifford) Barlage. He is survived by his wife Jennifer, two sons, Wyatt and Brennan, his parents, Jim and Virginia Barlage, Jennifer’s parents Joe and Lynda Perring, a brother-in-law Greg Perring and a niece Carissa Ejabat. His sister, Stephanie Barlage (Marver), preceded him in death.
Greg grew up in Summit, NJ and upon graduation from Summit High School, entered the University of Vermont which was in keeping with his love of the outdoors and skiing. Vermont remained a special place to Greg throughout his life and lifelong friendships were developed at the school.
After obtaining a degree in Business Administration and a two-year stint as an investment banking analyst in San Francisco, where he met Jennifer Susan Perring whom he married in 1996, he enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Southern California with a focus on investment analysis which became his life’s career.
Greg’s first job, following graduation, was in Columbus, Ohio, later back to San Francisco and finally to Boston when Greg located to Wellesley, Ma. At the end of his career he was employed at Fidelity Investment Company.
Greg and Jennifer raised two remarkable sons Wyatt and Brennan and the four of them were inseparable. He was the consummate family man, an excellent role model, an avid outdoorsman and fitness proponent. In addition to skiing and golf, which were his passions, Greg enjoyed mountain biking and hiking. Greg was a very compassionate person, loved his many friends, his music (especially Jimmy Buffet) and he was a wonderful man.
The family wishes to thank the nurses and doctors at the Dana Farber Cancer Center and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital for their dedicated and excellent care of Greg and Fidelity Investments for its unbelievable support.
Memorial services for Greg will take place on Saturday, December 3, 2022, at 10:30 am at the Wellesley Village Church, 2 Central Avenue, Wellesley, Ma., followed by lunch at the Wellesley Country Club, 300 Wellesley Avenue, Ma. 02481
In lieu of flowers the family encourages donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Greg a year ago when he shared his story of walking every street in Wellesley during his recovery.
We share our condolences with Greg’s family and friends.
Emily Sotelo, a former Wellesley Public Schools student who was attending Vanderbilt University, has been found deceased on the northwest side of Mount Lafayette in Franconia, NH. Following an intensive search and rescue in frigid and windy conditions, the hiker’s body was discovered on Wednesday morning.
Emily Sotelo’s formal obituary
The search began Sunday night after Sotelo was reported missing by a family member to New Hampshire Fish and Game, which issued a statement about Sotelo’s death. Many groups were involved in the search, including the National Guard and Civil Air Patrol.
Sotelo, who would have been 20 today, Nov. 23, was majoring in biochemistry and chemical biology at Vanderbilt. She was aiming to complete all of the 4,000-foot peaks in New Hampshire, and had set off early Sunday morning for a solo hike of Mount Lafayette, Haystack and Flume. Sotelo was an inexperienced cold weather hiker, and appears to have died from exposure to the elements, according to NH Fish and Game.
Sotelo had moved from Wellesley to Westford in recent years. While in the Wellesley Public Schools system, Sotelo had been a musician, a cross country runner, and a talented writer acknowledged by a Scholastic Art & Writing Award.
Our condolences to Sotelo’s family and friends.
Willard Peele Hunnewell, whose contributions to the town and country were celebrated by Wellesley for his 100th birthday last year with a small parade and band, passed away on Nov. 7 at the age of 101. His death was noted at Wellesley’s Veterans Day ceremony last week.
Mr. Hunnewell was a World War II Navy veteran and great-grandson of town benefactor Horatio Hollis Hunnewell. He ran a manufacturing business and was renowned for his horticultural expertise, following in a family tradition.
Mr. Hunnewell’s interests were many, from beekeeping to travel to ecology.
According to his full obituary, Mr. Hunnewell was predeceased by his wife, Dorothea “Dee;” and survived by sons, Willard, Jr., and George, as well as 6 grandchildren.
A private burial will take place at the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston. A memorial service to be held at the Eliot Church, 45 Eliot St., South Natick, on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1pm.
Let the Wellesley community know of your remembrances at theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
Mary Laurette Murdock Thompson of Wellesley died on November 10, at Mary Ann Morse (rehabilitation center) in Natick.
Her hundredth year was passed comfortably at Heritage (assisted living facility) of Framingham. She had many friends there, along with friends and former students who kept in touch in Wellesley.
Mary Thompson grew up at Harvard University, where her father, Kenneth Murdock, was a dean and house master. After college at Vassar she married Cameron Thompson and they moved to two boarding schools, the second of which was Phillips Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire. Her husband then became a teacher at Pine Manor, first in Wellesley (a junior college on the campus of Dana Hall until 1964), and then at Pine Manor’s new campus in Chestnut Hill, Newton. The Thompsons remained until 1977 in Wellesley, where they raised three children.
Mary obtained an M.A. degree during this time and started teaching in the Special Education department at Wellesley High School. This was her career until 1982, and she was beloved by students and colleagues for her patience, insight and good humor.
Her lifelong gift was humor and the elegant craft of words.
This period encompassed her important contributions to the book Philosophy and Literature; her husband’s retirement; and their move to South Natick. There she was active in the Natick Historical Society, the Shakespeare Club, and the Eliot Church. At the latter she was a deacon and diligent committee member. She continued on in South Natick after her husband’s death in 1989, finally moving back to Wellesley in 2001, where she participated in that town’s German Club, along with a book club.
Mary’s heart was always drawn to the members of her family, no matter how distant, to language and its riches, to many charities, and to New Hampshire where the old Murdock place was her summer home. She also felt the pull of her birthplace, Boston, where her mother, Laurette Potts Murdock, lived until 1994.
She leaves her children, Gordon, Peter and Sarah, and her grandchild Cawley. Her passing was peaceful, surrounded by family.
Services will be private; gifts in memoriam may be sent to Habitat for Humanity.
Let the Wellesley community know of your remembrances at theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
