EDWARD C. MCGILLICUDDY

I was able to say goodbye to my younger daughter just before joining my older daughter, Father, Mother, Brother-in-Law and dear friends. I was in the loving arms of my companion of 34 years, Jayna, with whom I enjoyed most summers  in Vermont, planting, tending, and harvesting our garden. One of my favorite pass-times at that home was watching the wild life interact outside the porch and enjoying how it entertained the cat. I fondly remember the proud moment when one of our local wild life friends ate seeds out of my hand. That house was a labor of love and I derived so much pleasure tinkering to make it better and building a dormer on the second floor, all by myself.

Then, at last, I got to check off a very important  item on my bucket list…a trip to Irelandwith Jayna and visiting the birthplace of my father, Sneem, a village situated on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry. It was then that I knew I had come home.

Now that I have gone home to be with those who went before me, I leave behind, mydaughter, Linda McGillicuddy, her spouse, David Kretchman of Reno, Nevada, and their children, Zane and Wyatt, granddaughter Lily McGil Johnson and her father, Donald D. Johnson of Findlay, Ohio and the mother of my two daughters, Roberta Higgins Laurent of Crescent City, Florida and my partner Jayna McLaughlin, of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. I was preceded in death by my parents Cornelius and Florence Wilson McGillicuddy, mydaughter Bonnie Lee McGillicuddy Johnson, brother-in-law Richard Higgins and many dear and wonderful friends including Bob and Dave Lively and Frank Steinberg.

Edward Cornelius McGillicuddy, of West Charleston, Vermont and Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts was born June 18, 1939 and passed away quietly and in comfort after a long illness, April 19, 2024. To most, Ed was the quintessential listener, mechanic, plumber, electrician, teacher and later in life, a nurse. Most of his career was devoted working with young, challenged children, physically and intellectually in the Cambridge Public Schools and in that setting, thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie of his colleagues. His only regret was that he was not able serve his country in the military, as was his wont, to demonstrate the appreciation of his father’s acceptance and citizenship in the United States of America. He will be missed.

A Celebration of Life will be held on May 19, 2024 at  2pm at THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 633 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain.  A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Central Vermont Humane Society, 1589 VT-14 East, East Montpelier, VT  05651 or online @https://centralvermonthumane.org

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