Obituary of Edie McGuinness

Edith “Edie” Roberta McGuinness, a woman of faith, family, and friendship passed away unexpectedly on Monday morning, June 15, 2015 at the age of 79. Edie was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of the late Marie and George Gray. As a child, Edie moved many times because of her father’s work as a litigation attorney. She lived in California, Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland before the family finally settled in Needham. Edie flourished in High School. She was a member of the class cabinet, a football cheerleader, and voted “Football Queen” in her senior year. She continued her close connections with high school friends throughout the years. Edie met her future husband Tom at Needham High School. After graduating in 1954, she worked as secretary to the assistant administrator at what is now Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She later helped her husband Tom when he started his own company, TRI-COM Associates of Burlington, which represented electronics manufacturers selling parts to defense industries around the Boston area. While Tom managed the sales, Edie ran the office from home during more than 30 years of business. This left her free to raise her two children—Tommy and Cathy—the pride and joy of her life. Edie and Tom were married in 1958 and settled in Burlington in 1959 to raise their family. Their home was a special place. Edie was a vibrant woman that loved to have fun. Her home was full of activities and when she entertained, there were always games, sports, and lots of great food. There were ping-pong matches, pool games, cards (at which Edie excelled), croquet, lawn darts, badminton, and a host of other events to entertain her family and friends. Her pool was a huge attraction during the summer months filled with her children and their neighborhood friends and later in life her grandchildren and their friends. The Fourth of July was a big event for Edie every year, partly because it was her birthday and partly because the annual parade route was just a short walk from her home. As with every holiday, Edie would adorn her home to embrace the holiday spirit with red, white, and blue being the prominent theme. Edie enjoyed being on the water and boating. She and Tom were members of the Danversport Yacht club for 25 years and loved boating around the North Shore or simply spending the weekend on the boat socializing with their boating neighbors. She loved the outdoors and working in her beautiful yard. She had so many other traditions including picnics, annual family apple picking outings, trips to Poland Springs, Maine with friends, and her favorite annual event visiting the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival. Edie was a woman with a strong Catholic faith. She had been a parishioner of St. Margaret’s church since 1959. She helped clean the church, work on church bazaars, assist the ushers, and was often present at parish events and socials. She is affectionately known by generations of children at St Margaret’s as “The Candy Lady,” because she always brought a bag of goodies to give to children after mass. She enjoyed her weekly Sunday tradition of attending the 7:30 morning mass followed by breakfast with her special friends including Fr. John Crispo. Her faith carried her through some very difficult times in her life including her son’s tragic death in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks where he was serving as co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11. As many sought retaliation, she instead sought comfort in God and made an effort to reach out to others to give them the comfort she found in her faith. She appreciated all the support for the 9/11 victims and made an effort to be present at the many memorials held in honor of Tommy and of those who lost their life on that tragic day. Edie was unfailingly kind to others, a woman of love, smiles, gratitude, comfort, and devotion who enriched the lives of all those she touched. Edie was the loving wife of the late Thomas F. McGuinness. She was the loving mother of Catherine M. Dutton & her husband Peter of Burlington and the late Thomas F. McGuinness, Jr. She was predeceased by her sister; Mildred Sheehan. Edie was the proud and devoted grandmother of Jennifer McQueen & her husband Seth of Dallas, TX, Stephen Dutton of Washington, DC, Thomas M. McGuinness & his wife Kristin of Chicago, IL, Rachel Dutton & her fiancé Ryan Harb of Amherst, MA and Trevor Dutton of Burlington. She was the mother-in-law of Cheryl Hutchins of NH. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Saturday, June 20 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 Friday 4-8 p.m. Interment in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, BURLINGTON. Memorials in Edie’s name may be made to People Helping People, PO Box 462, Burlington, MA 01803.