Obituary of Mary Louise Raleigh

Mary Louise “Mary Lou” Raleigh, retired Town of Burlington employee, passed away after a short illness on Wednesday night, February 7, 2018. She was 82 years old. Mary Lou was born in Cambridge, an only child to Nova Scotian immigrants, the late Alfred and Pearle Lind. She grew up in Cambridge and was a graduate of Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. She married her husband Bob in 1960. Shortly after, they started a family welcoming two sons, Stephen and Gregg, into their life and lived in Silver Spring, MD until 1975. In 1975, Bob went to work as a radio talk show host for WBZ and spent much of his career hosting overnight talk shows so they settled in Burlington to be closer to work. With Bob’s schedule, Mary Lou ran the house and was deeply involved in her children’s lives while feeding their stomachs with her famous lemon meringue pie and peanut butter blossoms (later renamed by her grandchild to Grandma’s kisses). She was as sweet as the cookies she made. She volunteered as their Cub Scout Den Mother. They describe her as a kind soul who supported them in everything they did. When she became a grandmother, she lit up their life and they lit up hers. She would travel with the families and constantly find herself on the sidelines at every football, baseball, soccer and cheerleading event and smiling in the audience for every play. She was always proud of all her family’s accomplishments and her grandkids said her warm hugs and bright smiling eyes made them feel every inch of love she had for them. Mary Lou went back to work in the Burlington Town Clerk’s office for over 15 years when her sons were well settled in school. In her free time, she would paint. Her paintings are proudly displayed in her home for family and friends to see, though her sons said she was the most humbly talented woman you’d ever meet. She enjoyed all sorts of arts and crafts, taking ceramics classes for many years and mastered the art of calligraphy. She even sewed a perfect Marilyn Monroe white dress replica her daughter-in-law still has to this day. She was an avid reader with fiction and mystery novels being her favorite genre. She enjoyed watching football with her family and was a past member of the Burlington’s Republican Committee. In more recent years, she took to Facebook to keep up with friends and family. She lived a life devoted to her family and her passing will leave a void in their hearts of a woman who loved, supported and believed in each of them. She always did more for them than she did for herself. Mary Lou was the beloved wife of 57 years of Robert “Bob” Raleigh. She was the loving mother of Stephen & his wife Julie of Cincinnati, OH and Gregg & his wife Joanna of Berlin. She was the proud grandmother of Kyle, Chelsea, Madison, Carter, Benjamin & Jonathan. Visiting hours will held at the Edward V Sullivan Funeral Home on Friday, Feb. 9 from 6-8 p.m. Funeral from the Edward V Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128/95 Woburn side) on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Interment in Pine Haven Cemetery, BURLINGTON. Memorials in Mary Lou’s name may be made to the American Diabetes Association, 260 Cochituate Rd., #200, Framingham, MA 01701.