| My dad, Ron Cavanaugh, died on Friday, June 2, 2006. Dad was at home with my Mom, on the eve of their annual drive back up to Massachusetts. As his friends and family know, he had heart disease and had gone through several operations over the past several years.
In accord with his wishes, my dad was cremated. A funeral Mass was celebrated on Saturday, June 17 at St. Joseph's Church, on S. Franklin St. in Holbrook, Mass. A reception followed at St. Charles Hall, beneath the church. On Sunday morning we traveled by boat to bury the ashes at sea. We plan to leave the dock from Hewitt's Cove, Hingham, at 9 am, travel to the Old Colony Yacht Club in Dorchester, then navigate through the harbor islands to the outer harbor and thence to the B-bouy. Some friends who wished to accompany the family in their own boats followed from Dorchester Yacht Club. | ||
| Ron was born on December 5, 1934, and grew up in Dorchester with his mother Hazel and grandmother Madeline (whose maiden name was Delory). | ||
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| My Dad in what must have been first grade, in 1939. | ||
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| He attended Dorchester High School and went to work for Meisel Press, which was located on Dorchester Avenue. He also signed up for the Army National Guard, and put in several years. Below are one of his dog tags and a liberty pass from 1957, along with a photo from his group picture at Ft. Dix in New Jersey. | ||
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| On July 31, 1955 Dad married Clare Hohmann. Last year my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, which we celebrated with most of the family and several friends. The picture below is from that day. | ||
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| Ron and Clare relaxing on the bow of the Tiny Tyke, 1958. | ||
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| Ron with his fishing buddy Tom McKeon after a successful bass trip. | ||
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| Here's a picture of Dad with his mother and the first four kids, Stephen, Shawn, Danny and Laurie. This looks to be from 1968. | ||
| Ron left Meisel Press to work for a new company called Instron, which specialized in machines that tested the strengths of materials. He would ultimately retire from Instron, having designed several important machine elements for which he won patents. | ||
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| At work with a colleague at Instron. Amazing that engineers, who were manufacturing machines used by NASA, did it all by hand, slide rule and drafting boards. Note that there's no computer to clutter the desk. This photo is from 1966.
Below that he is pictured with his boss, Bob Belliveau. | ||
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| Anyone with even a passing acquaintance of my Dad knew that while he earned a living as an engineer, his first love was fishing. Using his 1959 Glasspar boat, Tiny Tyke, he was the Striped Bass' most feared enemy. Whether live lining off Pt. Allerton, wire line fishing with his custom-made "Irish Jigs", or chunking while at anchor, he was an ever avid hunter of the coastal waters' premier game fish. | ||
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| Before Ft. Myers, Dad had his home away from home at the Dorchester Yacht Club where he was a life member. The lockers (8 x 12 ft rooms) were leased by members, and Dad had his for over 30 years. When we first looked at it, there wasn't so much as a piece of tile on the floor...just boards through which we could see the bay below and studs. We spent many weeks putting up paneling, constructing cabinets from packing crates and doing formica work, and ended up with a room that slept from 3-4 with a galley, clothes and rod storage and eventually a wall full of trophies. Pictured here in the locker are my uncle Kenny and Dad's cousin George. After a successful trip, he was also likely to turn up at the Old Colony Yacht Club, where he was also a lilfe member. | ||
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| Me with my brother Shawn and Dad after a successful fishing trip jigging for Bass. At the dock of the Old Colony Yacht Club, circa 1973. | ||
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| Laurie dancing with Dad at a Yacht Club function. | ||
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| Helping Molly catch her first Striper in August, 1991. | ||
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| Ron and Clare with our kids in Wilmington, on the day of Pat's First Holy Communion | ||
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| With Suzanne's parents and Shawn and Suzanne on their wedding day in September, 1997. | ||
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| Pictured above in August 2000 with our family, Shawn and Suzanne and Tom and Heather. | ||
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| At our Labor Day cookout in 2002 with Shawn and AJ. | ||
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| Ron with my mom Clare and Carlie in April 2004. | ||
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| With Althea at the Ocean Breeze skating competition in Bourne, Mass. | ||
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| Ron with a snook, caught in the Caloosahatchee River in Ft. Myers. Dec. 2004. | ||
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| Ron with my brother Dan in front of Ron's winter home, April 2005. | ||
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| Ron with Clare on Patrick's high school graduation day, May 2005. | ||
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| The Tiny Tyke with Ron at the helm, on a long ago day, heading back to Boston through the Cape Cod Canal. Dad has embarked on his final trip back to Boston. The kindness of your continued prayers is requested. | ||
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