Enjoyed traveling with his wife and performing with the RSO
Published May 8, 2019
LYNN — Joseph Raymond Gagnon, 83, died from complications following heart surgery on April 30, 2019.
He was born in Salem, was the son of Homer and Irene (Comeau) Gagnon, and grew up in Lynn. Ray attended St. Jean-Baptiste, where he played baseball and basketball. He was then selected for the GE Apprentice program, earning degrees in Mechanical Engineering and English from Tufts University. He went on to earn his MBA from Boston College, and worked for Honeywell and Sweetheart Plastics as the director of training. He retired from Northeast Utilities and continued to do business consulting for many years.
He married the former Kathleen C. (McCarthy) and together they raised four children: Susanne M. Cortez and her husband Rudy of North Carolina; Noelle G. Pyburn of Maine; Gerard O. Gagnon and his wife Anne-Marie of Natick; and the late Raymond C. Gagnon. He was the brother of the late Edward Gagnon. He is also survived by his grandchildren: Tessa, Kathleen, Sebastian, Casey, Charles and Colin.
Ray enjoyed singing in the St. Jean’s Men’s Choir for over 60 years, performing on violin with the Reading Symphony Orchestra and the Gulf Coast Symphony, running and traveling the world with his wife of 61 years. Ray truly enjoyed every day to the fullest.
His funeral was held from the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Saturday, May 4, followed by a Funeral Mass in Our Lady of the Assumption Church, corner of Salem and Grove streets., Lynnfield. Interment followed at Forest Hill Cemetery, Lynnfield. Visitation for relatives and friends was at the funeral home on Friday, May 3.
