Paul C. Morrissey, 70
Dateline: Foxboro, MA
Paul C. Morrissey, 70, a lifelong resident of Foxboro, passed away peacefully, after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease, on Wednesday May 25, 2011 at the Epoch Senior Healthcare Center in Norton.
Born in Quincy, MA on June 18, 1940, he was a loving son of the late Cornelius T. and Ella B. (Strople) Morrissey.
Paul grew up and was educated in Foxboro, and was a 1957 graduate of Foxboro High School. A Navy veteran, Paul proudly served his country during the Vietnam Era and was honorably discharged on October 21, 1966 with the rank of AN(E-3).
Shortly after graduating from high school he went to work for the New Haven Railroad. In 1958, he went to work on the Hudson Division of the New York Central Railroad as a tower operator in the Poughkeepsie and Beacon, New York area. In the early 1960’s a new opportunity opened up on the New Haven Railroad where he worked as a station agent, freight agent and tower operator. In 1967 he became a dispatcher for the then Penn Central Railroad and continued in that position after the Penn Central was absorbed by AMTRAK. Paul was a life time railroad man following in his father’s footsteps and worked for various railroads for nearly 50 years until his retirement in 2006.
A 40 year member of St. James Lodge AF & AM in Mansfield, Paul traveled extensively and almost exclusively by train. He had been in all of the 48 continental United States; Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
He had a photographic memory and could convey not only the railroad details of a particular area but the climate, terrain, industrial characteristics and attitudes of the people. Because of this vast body of railroad knowledge, he was frequently called on by his colleagues and peers and was considered a railroad historian.
He is survived by his devoted brother Frank N. Morrissey and his wife Patricia of Braintree. He is also survived by a niece Pamela Glennon and her husband Dan of Wisconsin and their children; and a nephew Michael Morrissey and his wife Alena of New York and their son.
Funeral services, to which relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend, will be held on Saturday May 28th at 11:00A.M. in St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 116 South St., Foxboro. Burial with military honors will follow in the Spring Brook Cemetery, Mansfield.
Visitation will be held on Saturday morning, prior to the services, beginning at 10:00 A.M. in the common room at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Foxboro.
In lieu of flowers, Paul’s family has requested that donations in his memory be made to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 116 South St, Foxboro, MA 02035; or to Life Choice Hospice, 460 Totten Pond Road, Suite 390, Waltham, MA 02451.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of the Sherman & Jackson Funeral Home 55 North Main St. Mansfield.
For additional information, please visit www.shermanjackson.com