obits

Virginia Rundell

With deep sadness, the family of Virginia Quinn Rundell announces her passing on Wednesday, January 10 of complications from cancer.

The arc of Virginia’s life and career was filled with renewal and re-invention centered around her love of the English language, clarity, precision and grace in written communication, and her commitment to collegiality and consideration of the people around her.

A 1973 graduate of Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, Virginia received her Bachelor of Arts in English, magna cum laude, from Salem State University in 1977, followed by her Master of Arts in English Literature from Tufts University in 1981. Following early work in development and recruiting with the New England Board of Higher Education and Tufts University, Virginia began a career pivot to architecture with studies at the Boston Architectural College. Melding that interest with her background in communications, she launched a career in professional services marketing, starting with several Boston-area architecture and engineering firms, where she met her future architect-husband, Rick Rundell.

This was followed by the start of her own business, advising design firms on the designer-selection processes for state agencies, and culminated with five years as Marketing Director for Goody Clancy, a prominent Boston-area architecture firm. During this time she was also an energetically contributing member of the Boston Chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services, including service on the board. Virginia continued marketing and editorial consulting as she and Rick entered their child-rearing years, including over a decade as Associate Editor for ArchitectureBoston magazine, and doing myriad editorial projects for design-related organizations including Historic New England and the Urban Land Institute.

In 2012 Virginia moved with her family to Lincoln, Mass., and rapidly took on volunteer roles supporting the community, chairing the Pierce House Property Committee and serving on the Advisory Board for Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln. She also returned at this time to a lifelong dream of becoming a librarian. While working at the Watertown Free Public Library then the Boston Athenæum, Virginia pursued graduate studies, including internships with the historical collections at Mount Auburn Cemetery and the Gottlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University. She received her Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University in 2018. In 2021 she combined her passion for civic engagement with her passion for libraries and archives in a new role as the Town Archivist for Lincoln, where she continued to work actively at both Town Hall and Lincoln Library sites until just a few short months before her passing.

Virginia’s love of the written word was matched only by her love of singing. She was delighted with the launch of Revels Singers in 2012 and sang and volunteered with them for many years. She also sang with the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus over the last few years and joined two seasons of the Oxford Churchmusic summer choral experience.

A devoted wife, loving mother, wise counselor, and tactful diplomat, Virginia leaves her loving husband, Richard (“Rick”) Rundell, daughter Elisabeth (“Ellie”) Rundell of Somerville, son Ford Rundell and his wife, Katie (Cook) Rundell of Lovell, Wyoming; sister Anne Quinn of Peabody, brother Michael Quinn of Dublin, Ohio, and beloved aunt Irene Zielski of Peabody. Virginia was predeceased by her parents, Michael R. and Helen V. (Zielski) Quinn of Peabody, Massachusetts.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Virginia’s name to The Friends of the Lincoln Library, 3 Bedford Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773 (www.lincolnpl.org).

Arrangements are under the care of Concord Funeral Home (75 Belknap St., Concord MA, 978-369-3388), which provided this obituary. Click here to visit Virginia’s online guest book.

Jane L. Bartter

Jane Lillard Bartter died peacefully on December 15, 2023, at the age of 102.

Jane was born on July 10, 1921, in Marion, the daughter of Walter Huston and Ethel Hazen Lillard. Because her father was headmaster of Tabor Academy, she was one of only four girls to attend the all-boys school at the time, graduating in 1937. Jane did a postgraduate year at the Knox School before attending Smith College, where she majored in early education and child development.

Jane’s career as an educator was put on hold. World War II broke out as she graduated and was drafted by Naval Intelligence to serve in the war effort. She served in Washington, D.C., for the next two years as one of a group of young women now referred to as the “Code Girls.” The Code Girls worked to decipher coded Japanese transport messages, helping the Navy to identify and destroy war supply ships.

During this time, she met her future husband, Frederic C. Bartter, a Harvard-trained doctor. The two were married in 1946 and spent the first year in Guatemala, where Fred was posted by the Public Health Service to research a tropical eye disease affecting U.S. troops. They moved to New York the following year, where Jane was hired as director of recreational therapy at Presbyterian Hospital. When Fred was appointed an intern at Mass General Hospital in 1948, the couple moved to Boston. Jane was assistant director of the Simmons College Nursery School for a year and then director of the Laboratory School at Children’s Hospital.

In 1951, Fred was appointed chief of the Endocrine-Hypertension Branch at the National Institutes of Health, and the couple moved yet again, this time to Washington, D.C., where they would raise their three children, Frederic Jr., Thaddeus, and Pamela.

Jane joined the staff of the Norwood School in Bethesda, Md., in 1959, where she spent the next 18 years teaching kindergarten and eventually taking on administrative roles, including assistant to the director and a stint as acting director. Upon her retirement, she was hailed as “dedicated and devoted, concerned and perceptive — always giving more of herself physically and of her talents and time than was ever expected.”

When Fred retired from the Public Health Service in 1978, he took a position at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. The couple loved the Spanish influence and heritage of the city. Jane retired from teaching and started a new venture importing clothing and folk art from Central and South America, drawing on her time in Guatemala as a newlywed.

Jane remained in Texas after Fred’s sudden death in 1983 but eventually moved to Lincoln in 2010 to be close to her daughter and grandchildren. Always wanting to be useful, she immediately volunteered at Codman Community Farms, answering the phone and doing accounting. Incredibly, at 93, she volunteered two mornings per week at the Lincoln Schools, tutoring first graders in reading. She also joined the Church Service League at St. Anne’s-in-the-Fields.

Jane was a devoted wife and mother. She was also passionate about dogs, animal rights, feeding the hungry, and effecting political change.

Jane’s son Frederic Jr. died in 2008. She is survived by her daughter Pamela Bartter, her son Thaddeus Bartter, four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Family and friends will gather to honor and remember Jane for her memorial service on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 11 a.m. in St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Episcopal Church (147 Concord Rd., Lincoln).

Arrangements under the care of Concord Funeral Home, which provided this obituary. To visit Jane’s online guestbook, click here.

Dr. Don Bienfang

There will be a service in Lincoln on January 20 for Dr. Don Bienfang, M.D., Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, who died on December 9, 2023 at age 84 after a brief illness.

Born in Elmhurst, Ill., the son of Esther (Kuhlow) and Mark Bienfang, Don was a graduate of York High School’s class of 1956 and went on to complete an undergraduate degree in Mathematics at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in 1960, and then to Harvard Medical School in 1960. As a medical student, Don worked at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, becoming its first respiratory therapist in 1961, and held a research position in Naples, Italy. Graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1965 and following his internship, fellowship, and residencies that took him to the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Md., and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Don returned to the Brigham in 1972 and, with his partner Leo T. Chylack Jr., founded the Ophthalmology group, beginning a nearly five-decade-long career at the Brigham.

As a distinguished surgeon and clinician, Don was known for his expertise and depth of knowledge, his warmth, and his wonderfully dry and intellectual sense of humor. Don was a true believer in listening and talking to his patients, often in their native language, to allow the patient to guide the diagnosis. Don felt honored to learn from icons in the field and, in turn, he served the Boston and international communities as a surgeon and teacher of neuro-ophthalmology with dedication and love. Along with the multitude of patients for whom he cared over five decades, Don’s professional legacy lives on in the doctors he mentored, and what is now known as Bienfang’s test for myasthenia gravis, a simple noninvasive test for an autoimmune disease that is difficult to diagnose.

Don met Denise, his wife of 60 years, in 1961, and they were married in 1964, He leaves behind two sons, Matthew Bienfang (Elizabeth) of Hingham and Joshua Bienfang of Bethesda, Md. Don was a devoted husband and a loving father, and he enjoyed and cultivated the ability to send Denise into helpless peals of laughter with his unexpected humor; one of her fondest memories is listening from the bottom of the stairs at their young son’s bedtime while Don gave their stuffed animals personalities and made them talk.

Don and Denise shared an independent-minded approach to life, and in 1974 they moved to Lincoln to embrace the back-to-the-land ethos of the time. In Lincoln, Don built a blacksmith forge, used wood-burning stoves for heat, raised chickens (and a few mean geese), and tended a large garden. Don’s chickens and their homegrown eggs became a feature of the family and community, and tending them served as a meditative evening pastime for him.

Don was not a slave to convention and he enjoyed being that way. In 1985 he slapped on a “Honk if You’re Horny” bumper sticker on his car just to see (until his family made him take it off)… he collected exotic breeds of chickens and unique power tools for his farmstead… he put offbeat cartoons on the insides of the kitchen cabinets for Denise to find… he preferred nonlethal pest control so he built a tunnel to protect the chickens and he kept deer out of his garden with his own scent… he felt a deep love for each of the dogs and at least one of his family’s cats.

He had a wonderful enthusiasm for trying new things, including baking bread, making root beer, motorcycling, playing mandolin, and painting. In the early 1960s in Naples, he developed a taste for espresso, and his sons fondly remember Saturday trips into Boston to watch back-to-back kung fu movies in Chinatown and then to the North End to get a cannoli and an espresso or two.

Don took up running in the late 1970s, and he ran the Boston and New York Marathons multiple times. He was a member of the Harvard Club and the Longfellow Tennis Club, and he enjoyed playing squash and tennis with his friends. He had an unreturnable chip shot that he deployed whenever his children or grandchildren made the mistake of trying to go easy on the old man.

Don and Denise traveled widely together, and later they turned a house on Cape Cod into a gathering point for their family and their large community of friends. Don loved being “Grandpa-Fang” to his grandchildren Micah, Britt, Abby, Caroline, Lily, and Sam. He loved to take them up to the chickens to hunt for eggs or to ride the tractor with him as he mowed the fields in Lincoln.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the memorial service at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, at the First Parish Church (4 Bedford Road in Lincoln).

Ronald Row

Ronald Victor Row, age 97, of Lincoln died peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family on November 28, 2023.

He is survived by his daughters Elizabeth of Arlington, Va., and Mary Gravely (Winston) of Richmond, Va.; sons Frank (Deedee) of Chelmsford and Gordon (Leslie) of Groton; ten grandchildren (Heather Williams, Ronnie Row, Robert Jennings Spangle, W. Jacob Spangle, Kelsey Row, Delaney Row, Harrison Gravely, Eva Gravely, Tristan Row, and Georgia Row), three great-grandchildren, and multiple nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his loving wife of 61 years, Jane (Eager) Row, and his daughter Katherine Victoria Row.

Ron was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the third son of the late Victor and Elfreda (Wismer) Row. He graduated from McGill and Harvard Universities and settled in Lincoln, where he and Jane raised five children and two grandchildren. He was a longtime member of St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Episcopal Church and the Appalachian Mountain Club, and was a founding member of the Lincoln-Sudbury Civic Orchestra in 1973.

Ron’s life was filled with a love of adventure and the outdoors, which he instilled in all his children. Family life was studded with camping trips, hiking, winter sports and above all sailing. After owning a series of smaller boats, Ron purchased a larger sailboat, the Victor, to allow his entire family to travel along the Maine coast during long stretches of the summer.  These were very special times, and Ron delighted in both celestial wayfinding and the challenge of daytime sailing through pea soup fog with Jane as navigator.

Early in life, Ron displayed a keen affinity for mathematics. Prior to attending McGill University, he devoted his summer to learning calculus. Following his McGill years, he pursued a doctoral degree in physics at Harvard University. To make certain Harvard was a good fit, he rode his single-speed bike festooned with makeshift panniers (courtesy of his mother) from Montreal across the White Mountains of New Hampshire to Cambridge. Camping roadside and in whatever youth hostel would accept him, he completed the four-day journey ready to begin the next chapter of his life.

During his time at Harvard, he was fortunate to have taken a liking to a rather attractive and brilliant lab partner who later became his wife. After completing his degree, he taught for several years at Harvard and then worked as an applied physicist for GTE Sylvania before becoming a consultant to a number of technology companies.

In addition to playing violin in the Lincoln-Sudbury Civic Orchestra for many years, Ron was also a self-taught pianist. His strong sight-reading allowed him to play nearly anything on the piano on demand. Scott Joplin and Rodgers & Hammerstein tunes regularly permeated the Row house, to everyone’s delight.

A devoted family man and community member, Ron was beloved by a large extended family and many others who knew him. He touched many lives and will be greatly missed but his influence will live on.

Family and friends are invited to attend visiting hours at Dee Funeral Home (27 Bedford St., Concord_ on Thursday, Dec. 14 from 4–7 p.m. A funeral service in celebration of Ron’s life will take place at St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Lincoln on Friday, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m., immediately followed by a reception in the parish hall.  Services will conclude with burial at Lincoln Cemetery.   

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Appalachian Mountain Club, 10 City Square, Boston, MA 02129 or St. Anne’s in-the-Fields, P.O. Box 6, Lincoln, MA 01773. 

Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord, which provided this obituary. To share a remembrance or to offer a condolence in Ron’s online guestbook, please click here.

Penny Mitchell

Millicent Irmiger “Penny” Mitchell, 83, of Lincoln, passed away on November 14, 2023 at the Commons in Lincoln.

Penny was born on February 3, 1940, daughter of the late Donald K. Irmiger, Sr., and Helen Irmiger Murray. She was raised in Green Bay, Wisc. and attended Skidmore College before graduating from Lawrence University, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. She worked in advertising for Jordan Marsh and later became a homemaker and mother.

Penny went on to marry Richard L. Mitchell. Together, they loved to sail and race their boat, ski, and travel. They were also passionate gardeners — they loved to spend hours working in their beautiful gardens. Penny also enjoyed photography and captured their many travels and memories. In between, they cherished time spent with family and their eight grandchildren.

Penny was predeceased by her husband Richard in 1999 and her brother, Donald Irmiger, Jr. She is survived by daughter Amy Lyon, sister Gretchen Morrison and husband Robert, and brother Chadwick Irmiger and wife Kathryn. She is also survived by her stepchildren, Edward Mitchell (Judith), Christie DiPietro (David), Margaret Prevot (Roger), and eight grandchildren, whom she loved dearly and was thrilled to spend time with.

Services will be held privately. Penny will be laid to rest beside her late husband Richard in Waterville Valley, N.H. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Progeria Research Foundation, PO Box 3453, Peabody, MA 01961-3453.

Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. To make an entry in her online guestbook, please click here.

Anne deLone lukas

Anne “Annie” deLone Plukas (nee Nolan), 77, of Lincoln passed away on November 13, 2023. She valiantly fought her disease for ten years and passed peacefully in the presence of her immediate family after a short stay in the hospital. Annie will be forever missed; she was a treasured wife, a heroic mother, and an affectionate grandmother.   

Annie was born on January 16, 1946, in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in the towns of Milton and Wellesley. Annie is survived by her loving husband of 44 years, John Michael Plukas; her devoted children, Amy deLone Hutter and husband Dr. Matthew Hutter; Erikas deLone, Hans Plukas and wife Cassandra, and Alexis Plukas and partner Richard Goodenow. She is also survived by six adoring grandchildren and many friends.

Annie attended Stoneleigh Burnham and Wellesley High School. She graduated from Boston University in the class of 1967 with a major in English. Annie had a passion for the English language, instilling a love of reading and writing and an appreciation for proper grammar to her children and grandchildren. 

She began her career as an editor in publishing and transitioned into the field of social work for the state of Massachusetts, where she spent the majority of her professional career.  She later retired from social work and devoted her time to raising her children, as well as coaching them in tennis at the junior, collegiate, and professional levels. 

Annie’s unfailing generosity, sharp wit, tenacity, and love of life are her defining qualities. She was a fiercely loyal person and an unflinching supporter of the people who were close to her, both friends and family. Annie’s energy and commitment to fight for the people in whom she believed was a distinguishing attribute. Her interests were highly varied—including playing and watching tennis, public market investing, adventure travel, sun-seeking, and the pursuit of knowledge. Whether she was eating a Boston cream donut, walking to the gym or the tennis court, driving in the car, or enjoying a dip in the hot tub, she would always have her family and a cup of warm coffee by her side. 

Annie’s happiest moments were when she helped bring people together; she seized every opportunity to celebrate life and her community.  Animals were central to her life, and she was a longtime advocate for and supporter of animal welfare.  Her cooking talent was a constant throughout and until the very end; “Annie’s meatballs” and “Annie’s macaroni and cheese” will be sorely missed. 

A private memorial service will be held to celebrate Annie’s life.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nantucket Island Safe Harbor for Animals (P.O. Box 2844, Nantucket, MA 02584), the Mass General Cancer Center (125 Nashua St., Suite 540, Boston MA 02114), or a charity of your choice. Please join us in honoring and remembering Annie Plukas, a remarkable woman who touched the lives of many. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

Arrangements are under the care of Concord Funeral Home, which provided this obituary. To share a memory or offer a condolence, click here.

In the November 15 post headlined “Susan Sugar, 1933–2023,” the surnames of Susan Sugar mother and two of her family members were listed incorrectly. The original post has been corrected.

Susan Sugar

Susan Sugar of Lincoln died on November 7, 2023 at the age of 90.

Susan Bowen Kimball was born in New York City on July 31, 1933, the daughter of Charles Kimball Jr. and Louise Van Voorhees. Her father died when she was five years old. She grew up in Greenwich, Conn., attending Greenwich Country Day School and Abbott Academy in Andover, Mass.

She graduated from Vassar College in 1955, where she gained a B.A. degree in musicology. She married Keith Wheelock, son of Ward Wheelock, a Philadelphia-based advertiser, in 1956. They had two children: a daughter, Helen, and a son, Jamie. Keith was a Foreign Service officer, and they were posted to the Belgian Congo for three years and, later, for another three years to Santiago, Chile. They returned to the States and lived in Lincoln and Greenwich.

Susan was divorced in 1975 and moved to Lincoln in that year. She remarried in 1985 to Peter C. Sugar, a Hungarian-born architect of Lincoln. It was the second marriage for both of them.

Susan was a singer (a soprano) and member of the semiprofessional Chorus Pro Musica of Boston for several years and the choir of the First Parish Church Lincoln. She had many interests in addition to being an athlete and an excellent tennis player, winning several town tournaments with various partners. She worked as a research librarian for the advertising firm of Temple, Barker, and Sloan in Lexington and then as a librarian for the Lincoln Public Library. She retired from the latter after fifteen years to concentrate on her lifelong hobbies of gardening and birdwatching.

Susan is survived by her daughter, Helen Wheelock; her son, Jamie Wheelock and his wife Brenda and children Kay and Ian; her half-sister Betty Webster and her husband Ben Bullard and children Ashley, Lucy, and Travis and their families (Susan’s other siblings, brother Charles and sister Louise pre-deceased her), and her loving husband Peter and his children Susan Sugar Halstead, Alex Sugar, Tobias Sugar and their families. We all miss her, especially her warm personality, ready smile, good humor, and willingness to join any group or activity to help others.

If you would like to make a contribution in her memory, in lieu of flowers, please donate in her name via check to Mass Audubon, 208 South Great Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773. Burial was private in Lincoln Cemetery.

Arrangements were under the care of Concord Funeral Home, which prepared this obituary. T leave a message in her online guest book, click here.

Bob Lenington

Robert “Bob” Lenington of Lincoln passed away on November 8, 2023. He was 93 and in his own words “I’ve had a great life.”

The greatest legacy Bob leaves is his love for his family. He married his honey, Carolyn, on July 18, 1953. This past summer they celebrated their 70 anniversary along with family, friends, and much laughter. Nothing brought Bob more happiness than traveling through life with his bride, and what an adventure it was with Captain Bob at the helm. 

Bob grew up in Detroit with his mom, dad, and younger brother Sid. He held a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Wayne State University and had a varied and successful corporate career for 24 years. Taking a position with Raytheon is what prompted him and Carolyn to move to Massachusetts, where he made his home in Lincoln for 61 years. In 1977, Bob took a position at Bentley College in Waltham; he remained at Bentley for 16 years until he retired as vice president for business and finance and treasurer. Bob loved his time at Bentley — he enjoyed his peers and his team and was proud of his many accomplishments.

Bob loved his work, but he also loved to play. He was a member of the Lincoln Minute Men and was honored to be the captain during the bicentennial year’s celebration. He and Carolyn enjoyed their travels with the Minute Men, especially the bicentennial reenactment of the march of Benedict Arnold to the centenary celebration of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Swimming and tennis kept him active, as did home improvement projects, which he loved designing and then building himself. Bob also took great joy in riding the family’s horse Pandy, and on occasion, giving him a sip of his martini. Camping was a family vacation adventure that was enjoyed by all. Houseboat and RV trips kept the family vacations lively. In 1976, Bob and Carolyn bought a lake cabin, which became one of Bob’s favorite spots.

Carolyn and Bob had three girls, Kathy, Kristen, and Karen, whom he adored. He always referred to them as his three girls and delighted in pointing out to people that the women in his life were always telling him what to do. As much as he loved his girls, he was pleased that their married lives brought some sons into his world. He relished the boys’ weekends up at the lake. He delighted in being a Papa to his seven grandchildren and continued his teasing playful ways with them. He always wanted great-grandchildren and was glad he was able to welcome three great-grandsons into the family.

Travel brought immense pleasure to him. Luckily, he and Carolyn enjoyed seeing much of the world during their retirement years.

Bob was the beloved husband for 70 years of Carolyn (Barrett) Lenington. He was the dedicated father of Kristen Cavallaro and her husband Paul; Karen Martin and her husband Brad; and the late Kathy Silva and her surviving husband John. He was the cherished Papa of Josh, Courtney, Brendon, Jessica, Stephanie, Christopher, David and their partners, along with his newly minted great-grandsons Finn, Miles, and Luca.

Relatives and friends are invited to celebrate Bob’s life during visiting hours on Saturday, Nov. 18 from 3-5 p.m. at Dee Funeral Home (27 Bedford St., Concord). His funeral service will be held on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 1:30 p.m. in the Weston United Methodist Church (377 North Ave., Weston). Burial will follow with U.S. Army military honors at Lincoln Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Bob’s memory may be made to Care Dimensions in gratitude for the extraordinary hospice care Bob received (www.caredimensions.org). Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord, which provided this obituary. To share a fond memory of Bob or to offer a condolence in his online guestbook, click here.