Alyce Peters Condon, widow of Edward A. Condon, passed away April 6, at the age of 99. She was a beloved mother of four children, grandmother of 9, great grandmother of 15, and great great grandmother of a one-year-old.
She was born in South Weymouth, on October 16, 1911, daughter of Poss Peters who immigrated to America from Prince Edward Island, Canada, and Mary Kelly Peters, who immigrated to America from County Cork, Ireland.
Alyce grew up with her 4 siblings on Division Street in Rockland. She was the sister of the late Madeline Shea of Rockland, Esther Crowley of Whitman, Joseph Peters of Middleboro and Elizabeth Thibeault of Rockland. She was the last of her siblings to pass away.
Alyce was a graduate of Rockland High School Class of 1929, where she met her husband Edward Aloysius Condon. They were married in 1931 and moved to Brockton where they had lived ever since. Edward Condon passed away in 1991, just a few weeks shy of the couple’s 60th Wedding Anniversary.
Alyce was retired from the Brockton School System, where she had served as Manager of the Cafeterias at both the Downey Elementary School and West Junior High School successively. She was very popular with the students, teachers and administrators, and the day she retired, a special ceremony was held for her in the school auditorium, where she received more than 600 cards individually created by each of the students at West Junior High School, as well as dozens of floral bouquets and gifts. Before working in the school system, she had worked part-time as a seamstress at Vanta in Stoughton, and embroidery specialist for Tonis of Brockton.
Alyce loved arts and crafts and created many beautiful and unique quilts and afghans for members of her family. She also created hand-tooled leather pocketbooks, cross-stitch linens, ceramics, and a variety of other gift items for family and friends.
Her grandchildren knew they could always count on her for sweets and a fun time. She was known as Nana, Gramma, and Grammy Alyce. She enjoyed receiving spontaneous company of all ages and always laid out the welcome mat with a meal, or tea and cookies.
She loved poetry and music and had played the piano as a younger person. She loved to dance and was an active member of Diane Stone’s dance school in Brockton even into her 80s. She was also active in the Brockton Chapter of the AARP, the Red Hat Society, and Friends of Brockton Seniors and at the Kennedy Senior Center. She was devout Catholic and a parishioner successively at St. Patrick’s Church, St. Margaret’s Church and Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Brockton.
She survived two broken hips, at ages 91 and 95, and kept moving and smiling. She never thought of herself as an old person. She’d say she was really only 25, but trapped in an old body.
For the past three years, she had been a resident of West Acres Nursing Home in Brockton, where she was popular with the staff and made them smile with her candid wit.
Alyce is survived by three children and their spouses: William Condon and his wife Eleanor Condon of Middleboro, Maureen Condon of Brockton, and Kathleen Cockcroft and her husband David Cockcroft of Harwich, and she grieved for her first born, Ronald Condon, who passed away in the hospital shortly after birth.
Her nine grandchildren and their spouses are: William Condon and his wife Diane Condon of Stoughton, Linda Condon of Brockton, Michael Condon and his partner Michael Carlson of Brockton, James Condon and his wife Holly Condon of Middleboro, Susan Simao and her husband Angelo Simao of Middleboro, Donna Warner and her husband Gary Warner of Easton, and Stephen Condon and his wife MaryGrace Condon of North Dartmouth, Matthew Cockcroft of Portland, Oregon, and Kelly Cockcroft of Medford, Massachusetts.
Her great grandchildren are: Melissa Gabriel and her husband Matthew Gabriel, Mark Condon, Lisa Condon, Karen Condon, Elizabeth McMahon, Meaghan McMahon, Christopher McMahon, Zachary Condon, Alexander Condon, Courtney Simao, Lauren Simao, Lark Warner, Patrick Condon, Garrett Condon, and Rebecca Condon, and great great grandson, Jackson Gabriel.
She is also survived by her nieces and nephews: Marilyn McAuliffe, Pauline Downing, Frances Hirst, Pamela Lincoln, Peter Thibeault, Mary Whitcher, Joseph Peters, Michael Peters and James Peters and James Condon.
Alyce Condon’s funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Brockton, on Monday April 11, 2011, at 11 a.m. Dr. Rick Gribble, C.S.C., a professor of Theology at Stonehill College will celebrate the Mass. Nancy Battaglia Gustafson will be the soloist, and Richard Cesarini will be the organist.
Visiting hours are at the Conley Funeral Home, in Brockton, from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday April 10. She will be buried in Holy Family Cemetery in Rockland, where her husband, her siblings and her parents are also buried.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to The Charity Guild of Brockton, P.O. Box 2372, Brockton, MA 02305, for the food pantry, or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
One of her favorite verses of poetry, which she recited often in her later years, was this stanza from “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
“Life is real – life is earnest –
And the grave is not its goal!
Dust thou art, to dust returnest
Was not spoken of the soul.”
Submitted with love by Alyces's family