Charles Dunstan Boddy

Charles Dunstan Boddy, 95 a resident of Lawrence, following a long period of deteriorating health, Charles Dunstan Boddy, Sr. died peacefully March 13, 2014 at the Berkeley Nursing Home surrounded by his family and friends. He was born October 18, 1918 in Lawrence to Martha D. (Kennedy) and William L. Boddy. He was the middle of 5 sons, each of whom predeceased him, and was a life-long Lawrence resident. He graduated Lawrence High School in 1936 and was a World War II Merchant Marine Veteran, enlisting in 1941, right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He trained at Hoffman Island and King?s Point, NY, and graduated from Merchant Marine Officers? School in Trumbull, CT. He served in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean theatres as Second Officer on Liberty Ships. In 1993, Russia awarded him a medal for his role in passing through U-Boat infested waters to provide munitions and food to the City of Odessa in its defense of the Eastern Front. He similarly supplied Allies in France during the Battle of Brittany. He was a communicant of St. Laurence O?Toole Church until its closing, and thereafter of St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Lawrence. He was a member of the Rollins School Clock Tower Restoration Committee, the Prospect Hill/Back Bay Neighborhood Association, and enjoyed many years of fellowship with the Men?s Fellowship of the Christian Fellowship Church of the Merrimack Valley, which he joined by invitation. His dear friend, Ruth Lange, ensured that he remained on that church?s prayer list over the past few years. He accompanied Lawrence Boy Scout Troop 2 on its annual encampments in Gorham, NH each year from 1970 through 2009. His last years were spent at the Berkeley Retirement and Nursing Home which he considered his ?home away from home? and where he received care and compassion from the directors and staff. Prior to retirement, he was employed in the beverage business by Curran and Joyce Tonic, Tryon Distributors, and Whitehall Co, Ltd. Over the years, he and his wife MaryLou spent summers at Little Island Pond, Pelham, NH where he summered since his childhood. He is survived by his wife, Mary Louise (Coulombe); his daughter, Jane, and her husband, P.T. Hart, of Bridgewater, NH and Williamsburg, VA; his daughter, Marjorie, and her husband, Charles Haggerty, of Andover; his son, Attorney Charles D. Boddy, Jr., and his wife Anne (Donahue) of Bellingham, MA; granddaughters Kathryn (Hart) Steele and Linda (Hart) Greenwood, grandsons, Sean Boddy and Michael Boddy, two great grandchildren, Emma Steele and Nicholas Greenwood, a niece, several nephews, and their families. Calling hours will be Thursday from 3pm to 7 pm at Breen Memorial Funeral Home, 122 Amesbury St. Lawrence, MA. A Rite of Christian Burial will be held Friday at 11:00 AM at St. Monica?s Church, Methuen, MA. Burial will be at the Bellevue Cemetery, Lawrence. Memorial contributions can be made to the Christian Fellowship Church of the Merrimack Valley, PO Box 2181, Methuen, MA 01844.