By Maurice ‘Mossy’ Martin
God Bless Father John Duffy C.S.P., who recently celebrated 50 years as a Catholic priest.
Father Duffy grew up on the Hill at 100 Calumet St., and I remember this wonderful man at Mission High School where he graduated in 1965.
A gifted student, Fr. Duffy went on to Harvard University, and he received his diploma in 1969 before his strong sense of spirituality prompted him to enter the Seminar. He was ordained in 1975.
Father Duffy is a Paulist Father (Missionary of St. Paul), founded in 1858, and he was Paulist President from 2002 to 2010.
Condolences to the family of Bonnie (O’Keefe) Prendergast, who passed away last month.
Bonnie was an admirable woman, who had a beautiful, 58-year marriage to her 1966 Mission High classmate Dick Prendergast. Bonnie was a classy woman, and I’ll always remember how nice she was when I initially met her back in the Mission Hill project days.
Donations in Bonnie’s memory may be made to Friends of Dana Farber.
The Mission Hill Pos 327 held a meeting last week at Victory Point Restaurant in Quincy.
At the meeting, which included the election of officers, we discussed our annual Golf Fundraiser set for Sept. 27 at Norwood Country Club. More info will be upcoming next month for golfers and contributors.
Courtney Wright was a guest at our Post meeting. A charming young lady, Courtney is the Mission Hill Main Streets Director, and it was nice breaking bread with her.
Col. George Rollins banged a hole in one at Norwood Country Club on the 13th hole last month.
Golfer Bill Mullin, who witnessed the Col.’s astounding shot, could have been knocked over with a feather.
It’s awful when a young life is senselessly taken away, particularly in a violent manner as was the case with local woman, 21-year-old Tatyiana Flood, was found beaten to death in Mission Hill in a car near the Alice Taylor Apartments on Annunciation Road last month.
Kevin Boyette, age 36, was arraigned on a murder charge in Roxbury District Court. At the time of the alleged murder Boyette was free on bail from a charge of assault with a knife.
On a cheerful note, my friend Fred Cataldo visited Father Robert Lennon in Smyrna Beach, Fla., and the 94-year-old priest, lovingly known as Father Bob, is in fine spirits.
Father Bob spent decades at Mission Church, where he succeeded the famous Father McDonough as the Healing and Restoration Minister.
When Father Bob was a 13-year-old Mission Grammar School student he played on the famous 1944 Mission C.Y.O. baseball team that won the State Championship. That team which played games at Braves Field and Fenway Park was coached.by World War I veteran Frank Power – part of the lineage of the prominent Mission Hill Power ancestry.
At the Encore Casino in Everet last month, I made a surprise visit to Carol MacDougall and Tricia (Fitzgerald) MacDougall and a dozen other MacDougalls who were dining, celebrating Carol’s milestone birthday.
I’ve always been fond of the MacDougalls, a terrific clan who lived next to me as kids at Tobin Court in the Mission Hill project.
I occasionally see Mission Hill people at Encore where I play a low-stakes $1 – $3 No Limit Texas Hold ‘em game.
A wise man once said, “The key to good poker playing is to keep your opponents guessing.”
Francis ‘Skipper’ Fournier, a retired electrician at the Children’s Hospital passed away last week.
I have wonderful friendship memories of Skipper, particularly the summer of 1969. During that sunny season, Skipper and I, along with Davey Grogan, Harpo, Jack Todd, and a cast of other characters, rented a cottage for the summer in Falmouth.
Often on weekends, I’d ride to the Cape in Skipper’s red Firebird. He was such a nice guy and generous it took an arm twisting to give him a dollar for gas.
Skipper and I were teammates on the newly formed Mission Club in 1966, a lower-level entry in Boston Park League Football. Skipper was a blazing fast halfback, and when I’d see him in taverns in years following, I would always remind him that he scored the first touchdown in the history of the Mission Club. Invariably Skipper would react with a huge smile.
I always support Mission Hill businesses, so for the second time in two months, I stopped in the international convenience store at 1562 Tremont St.
I intended to buy a loaf of bread as I did a month previously, but again, they didn’t have any bread. I mentioned this to the store clerk who was polite and understandable.
Ironically the name of the store is Bread ‘N Butter.
Unfortunately J.P. Licks at Brigham Circle locked its doors for good after 21 years on Jan. 20. It was a conundrum for the ice cream parlor, forced to charge high prices (6 bucks for a teeny scoop of ice cream) because of high rent.
Tremont Pizza is under new management, and I stopped in last week to wish them luck and had a slice of tasty pizza.
Mission Hill Little League President Dan Weldon did another fine job this year, and it’s a nice touch naming the league championship trophy after the late and great George Brennan, one of the founders of M.H.L.L. in 1953.
There is also a trophy for the Minor League champions which is named after longtime M.H. Little League coach Joe Dooley.
Dan Weldon is also the coach of the newly formed Mission Hill Pirates, a team of 13- to 15-year-olds who play their home games at Madison Park. Organized by the Red Sox Foundation, it’s called the RBI League. RBI is an acronym for ‘Renewing Baseball in the Innercity.’
Why does it take longer to run from second base to third base than it does from first to second ?
Because between second and third there is a shortstop.
Maurice can be reached at mossymartin2@gmail.com.