Worked for New England Telephone Co.
Published in the March 2, 2016 edition
LYNNFIELD — Thomas “Mickey” Mountain, Sr., 87, passed away peacefully at his home early Friday evening, February 26, 2016 surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
Mickey, as he was called since childhood, was the son of Andrew and Agnes (Corr) Mountain, and was the younger brother of Andrew “Jimmy” Mountain and Mary (Mountain) Cunniff.
Through his father, his ancestors were some of the earliest settlers of Boston in 1634, and among the founding families of Prince Edward Island, Canada in the 18th Century. Through his mother, his Irish ancestors came to Boston and St. John’s, New Brunswick in the 19th Century.
Mickey was born in Franklin, where he spent his childhood before moving to Somerville, when his father worked as a shipbuilder at the Charlestown Navy Yard. Upon graduating from Malden Catholic High School in 1946, he immediately joined the U.S. Marines at age 17½, and served stateside in the Carolinas. As a proud Marine, he later served as Commander of the American Legion in Melrose.
He married Pauline Johnson in 1951 and raised his four children in Melrose, spending summers at Wyman’s Beach in Westford for over 40 years. After retiring from the New England Telephone Company, he moved to Lynnfield, became an avid golfer, and spent much of the subsequent two decades wintering in Florida, traveling abroad or on cruises, and visiting his beloved Prince Edward Island.
Mickey delighted in watching his grandsons play baseball, and rarely missed a game; likewise with his granddaughters’ soccer games. He was a frequent visitor at their universities in Amherst, Storrs, Burlington and Montreal, and was amused to learn that he was one of the few grandfathers ever to tour his grandson’s fraternity house in Maine.
In his later years, he was blessed to visit frequently with his five great-grandchildren, all of whom lived nearby. He was thrilled to attend his oldest great-grandson’s football games last fall.
Mickey Mountain is survived by his wife of 65 years, Pauline (Johnson) Mountain. He is also survived by his four children, Janet Doyle and her husband David of North Andover; Joyce Toomey of Haverhill; Jean Humphrey of Millis; Thomas Mountain, Jr. and his wife Ora of Newton.
He is also survived by eight grandchildren, Scott LeBlanc and his wife Abigail of Hamilton; Jamie Kirkman and her husband Shane of Hamilton; Michael Toomey of Haverhill; Andrew Mountain and his fiancée Elisa Suissa of San Francisco; Daniel and Jennifer Mountain of Newton; and Evan and Dean Humphrey of Millis. He is also survived by his five great-grandchildren, William, Benjamin and Allison Kirkman of Hamilton; and Hannah and Charlotte LeBlanc of Hamilton.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 758 Salem St., Lynnfield on Tuesday, March 1. Burial took place at Puritan Lawn Cemetery, Peabody.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Foundation Fighting Blindness at www.blindness.org or 7168 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 21046-3256.
To sign an online condolence, visit www.gatelyfh.com. Arrangements by the Gately Funeral Home, Melrose.
