Melrose Obituaries

Published in the June 19, 2015 edition

MELROSE — William “Bill” Taylor, 94, died at the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital on Sunday, June 14.

Bill was born and grew up in Fall River. He attended Fall River schools and left to join the Army. His military career took him to the Panama Canal then to Europe…

Published in the June 19, 2015 edition

MELROSE — Thomas E. Durney, 58, passed away at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital on June 15 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Tom was one of 11 children and was born in Melrose on November 21, 1956. He was raised in Melrose, graduated from Melrose High School, Class of…

Published in the June 19, 2015 edition

MALDEN — Rose M. (Tassone) Piccione, 89, a resident of Malden, and formerly of Somerville, passed away peacefully on Tuesday morning, June 16.

Rose was born in East Boston on April 18, 1926, one of six children of the late Ventura F. Tassone and Grace (Papasadora) Tassone…

MAITLAND, Fla. — Harvey Graves, 80, formerly of Melrose, Billerica and Lowell, passed away on May 16, 2015 at home, surrounded by his loving family.

Harvey was born in Melrose on Aug. 20, 1934, to Ernest R. and Elsie (Parsons) Graves, the youngest of their nine children. He was a resident of Maitland, Fla. since…

MELROSE — Margaret E. (Harrington) Blake, a 46-year resident of Melrose and formerly of Medford, entered into eternal life suddenly on Tuesday June 2, at her home in Melrose. She was 91 years old.

Margaret was born in Medford on March 10, 1924, a daughter of the late William D. and Ann E. (Raeke) Harrington…

SAUGUS — Purificacion (Layon) Bernacki, 82, of Saugus, passed away peacefully on Friday, June 5, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Purificacion, lovingly known by all as “Puring,” was born on June 30, 1932 in Dinalupihan, Bataan in the Philippines, one of 10 children of the late Victoriano M. and Teodora E. (Sandoval) Layon.

She…

MELROSE — Sebastian J. Cannata, a 57-year resident of Melrose, entered into eternal life on Saturday, June 6, at Genesis Wakefield Care & Rehabilitation Nursing Home in Wakefield following an extended illness. He was 87 years old.

Sebastian was born in Messina, Italy, on Oct. 14, 1927, a son of the late Orazio and Mary…

MELROSE — Ann H. Cassidy, 103, a longtime resident of Wakefield, passed away peacefully at the age of 103 on Saturday, May 30 at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital.

Ann was born on September 21, 1911 in Lowell, the oldest of six children born to the late William and Ann (Maguire) Handley. A daughter of a local construction…

MELORSE — Veronica A. (DeLuca) Williams, 78, a resident of Stoneham and formerly of Melrose, passed away peacefully at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital on Friday, May 29.

Veronica was born in Everett on January 26, 1937 and was one of two children of the late Joseph and Anna (DeSalvo) DeLuca. Raised in Everett and Malden, Veronica owned…

BEVERLY — Rita P. (Hoar) Scott, 92, a resident of Beverly and formerly of Wakefield and Danvers, passed away peacefully surrounded by the loving care of her family on June 1, 2015. .

Rita was born on March 9, 1923 in Boston, one of six children of the late James P. Hoar and Anna (Claus…

CHELSEA — William J. “Bill” Harris, 81, passed away at the Chelsea Soldiers Home on Saturday, May 30.

Bill was born in Melrose on November 7, 1933 to the late Kendall B. & Lula V. (Forbes) Harris. He was raised in Melrose, attended Melrose schools and has been a lifelong resident of Melrose. Mr. Harris…

MELROSE — Despin (Angelopoulos) Kotsakis, 88, of Melrose, died at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers on May 20.

Despin was born and raised in Melrose, was a lifelong Melrose resident and attended Melrose schools. She worked for many years at Peter’s Market in Melrose and enjoyed shopping, gardening, needlepoint, cooking, arts and crafts…