Obituary of Ronald D'Urso

Ronald J. D’Urso, Sr., a resident of Burlington for over 40 years, passed away at this home surrounded by his family on Saturday afternoon, January 20, 2007 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. The husband of Joan M. (Trepaney), he was 68 years old. Ron was born in his family home in Malden. He was raised and educated in Malden. He was the son of Italian immigrants the late Gennaro and Saverina D’Urso. Ron and his wife settled in Burlington in 1964 where they raised their 6 children. Ron was an incredible mechanic and was the owner for over 40 years of Barry Park Foreign Car Services in Lynn where he gained the trust and friendship of many loyal customers. He was even awarded the “Most Trustworthy Mechanic” in Lynn. He was a member of the Woburn Sportsman’s Club and won numerous trophies in archery and marksmanship in shooting competitions. Ron could fix anything and was very talented craftsman who built an addition on his home. He was a kind and caring man who volunteered his time driving cancer patients to Doctors appointments. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed spending time in Maine at the Ocean, camping and golfing. He also had an interest in photography. He had a faithful companion in his dog, Emily. Ron’s family was most important to him and he was blessed to have wonderful life filled with many special family times spent with this wife, children and grandchildren. Ron is the beloved husband of Joan M. (Trepaney). He is the loving father of Donna & her husband Jay Gordon of Westford, Ronald J. D’Urso Jr. & his wife Sandra of Lynn, Linda D’Urso & her husband Stephen Hill of Waltham, Daniel D’Urso of Burlington, Sharon & her husband Paul Osburn of Elizabethtown, PA, and Debra & her husband David Demeo of Billerica. He is the brother of Francis D’Urso of FL, Jerome D’Urso of CA and the late Nicholas D’Urso. Ron is also survived by 12 grandchildren. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Tuesday 2-4 p.m. & 6-8 p.m. Interment in Pine Haven Cemetery, Burlington. Memorials in Ron’s name may be made to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701 Eulogy I was asked to speak for our family about Ron. Thank you for coming. We all appreciate your love & support. He was a very involved & passionate husband, father, grandfather & friend. He was a man who was proud of who he was. He always stuck to his beliefs & didnʼt let anyone sway him. As was evident, at election time when, he would cover his lawn with political signs. While going through his personal phone book, after his passing, we couldnʼt help but chuckle at some of the phone numbers listed. George W. Bush, The F.B.I. & Rush Limbourgh were listed among his many friends & relatives. He was an avid sports fan. He loved his Patriots & Red Sox. He loved the outdoors. One of his favorite things to do to relax on a weekend was to take a long leisurely drive to Maine with Joan & some of the family. Because of his love of nature, he loved camping, photography & boating. His involvement with his family was second to none. He always had the time for a family member & was always concerned about making sure that his family was well taken care of by working long hours at his business of 40 plus years at Barry Park Foreign Car. He was always involved in the families school plays, sporting events, art shows,weddings & births of their babies with his camera or video camera telling us to hold still & smile or else! Ron had an endless number of hobbies & interests. Sports shooting were he was a top contender in his gun club.He also loved cooking, camping, playing the guitar, photography, woodworking, ballroom dancing. Ron had a wonderful talent of that allowed him to fi x anything from cars to antique clocks. He also had a great love for him many dogs throughout his life. He even went so far as to taking one of his dogs who had a problem to a psychiatrist. Needless to say the dog never got cured but it gave us a memorable laugh. He loved to take his latest dog Emily to the beach for walks in Maine later only to stop at the drive-through to buy her a McDonalds burger for the way home. His pride in his Italian heritage and his patriotic passion was instilled by his parents Saverina and Generaro who were first time generation children came to this country. His love for his parents Sarah and Gerry and his 3 older brothers was the beginning of his love of family and friends. Later every family event that his brothers and their families had was top priority on his list and he cherished them greatly. He later would meet his wife Joan Trepaney on a blind date on a summer afternoon when he was 19. She was wearing curlers at the time and was sitting on her porch. He would later serenade her with his ukulele even with threats of Joanʼs grandmother threatening to throw a bucket of unpleasantries toward his romantic advances. Even with these threats though Ron was head over heels in love and later married Joan 3 years later. These two kids were blessed with 6 children; Donna, Ronald Jr., Linda, Dan, Sharon and Debbie. Even later 12 grandchildren trickled in as the years went by and Ron and Joanie were very involved loving grandparents. Once he found out he had cancer he put up his dukes and fought it all the way. He was determined to enjoy every drop of life he could. He still never lost heart and continued to give love to his family and everyone he came across along this fight. Every pharmacist, Dr., nurse and hospice person was greeted with a smile and his best. He helped when he could by driving other cancer patients with his van that was well equipped with all the latest technology which is what he loved. With this thought, all of Ronʼs family and Iʼm sure he would wish this too, would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those compassionate souls who helped him fi ght this cancer fi ght till the end. Their support was uplifting and only described as incredible. For all of us who knew and loved Ronald, we know every time we talk about politics, see an old car, or are appreciating the love of our families we will think of him and how he touched our lives. For he was a man who did not take life for granted and thatʼs a little bit of what we all want and thatʼs why he will always be remembered.