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IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Walter E.

Walter E. Priestley Profile Photo

Priestley

Feb 2, 1938 — Dec 13, 2019

Upton

Obituary

Walter Edward Priestley, a Worcester-area native and long-time manager at TJX Corp.,  passed away on December 13, 2019 at Rose Monahan Hospice Home following a twenty-year battle with cancer. He was 81.
Walter was born in Worcester on Feb. 2, 1938 to Eddie and Laura (Dandro) Priestley and grew up in Leicester. He graduated from Worcester's Saint Peter's High School in 1956, and Clark University in 1962, where he earned a degree in Economics. Following college he worked several jobs including stints at State Mutual Life Assurance Company and Worcester County National Bank, before settling into a long and dedicated career at TJX Corporation in Framingham.
While playing golf at a local club in the early 1960s, he met on-duty lifeguard Marcia Houston of Worcester, and the two were married on May 29, 1965 at Our Lady of the Angels C hurch. The newlyweds lived in Paxton before moving to Boylston where they raised their three children and maintained a home filled with pets and surrounded by trees and flower and vegetable gardens on Carol Drive for 47 years. They recently moved to Upton, MA.
A skilled athlete and avid sports fan, Walter played team sports at Saint Peter's, snuck onto the links at Leicester Country Club as much as possible, and played basketball for Clark University in the late 1950s and early '60s. He continued to follow his athletic passion as a young adult becoming a near-scratch golfer and traveling throughout the northeast, and occasionally beyond, to play organized basketball and fast-pitch softball for Worcester-based teams. He was a dedicated and vocal fan of the Boston Red Sox (Ted Williams!), New England Patriots (Tom Brady!), Boston Celtics (Bill Russell!), and the PGA Tour, on which his favorite golfer was Arnold Palmer.
His other interests focused primarily on his family, the great outdoors and animals. The family enjoyed a large number of beloved cats and dogs for decades, including Norman, Fluffy, Lady, Pepper, and his final canine companion, Winni. His favorite places when not studying financial statements and receipts (always filed in triplicate) to prepare his taxes, or readying for a (hopefully!) big storm by methodically and perfectly stacking the cords of wood he had just split, were the mountains and waters of New England—whether somewhere along the Atlantic Ocean, Lake Kezar in Maine, Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire or in Stowe, VT, nestled in the shadow of the snow-covered peaks of the Green and the White Mountains. He led the family, sometimes by a great distance, on mountain hikes and along groomed and un-groomed cross-country ski-trails. As they grew older, he and Marcia also enjoyed more adventurous travel together and traditional family vacations with their children and grandchildren, visiting such favorite destinations as Alaska, Myrtle Beach, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, Yosemite National Park, Lake George, Frenchboro, ME, Walt Disney World, Mt. Washington, and Trapp Family Lodge. If these places included a little Celtic music, a table for puzzles, and restaurants offering a massive Fisherman's Platter (fried) or oversized Prime Rib (rare), all the better.
In later years, he proudly and lovingly swapped most live professional sporting and musical events in favor of the amateur events of his six active and accomplished grandchildren from the swimming pools and lacrosse fields of Maine to the soccer pitch and basketball courts of Massachusetts to the music and dancing stages of New Hampshire. He kept a calm and keen eye on the games, old-school sportsmanship, and the refs.
Walter was predeceased by his parents, his younger brother, Paul, and his aunt, Elsie (Priestley) Strong.
He leaves his beloved wife and constant companion of 54 years Marcia, who cared for him with love and strength during his final illness. He also leaves daughter Michelle and her husband Dean Lunt of Yarmouth, Maine, daughter Cheryl and her husband Gregory Bukunt of Upton, and son Andrew Priestley and his wife Wendy of E. Swanzey, New Hampshire; as well as six grandchildren; Emily and Eliza Lunt, Brooke and Jackson Bukunt, and Meaghan and Duncan Priestley.
The family would like to thank the caring and compassionate doctors and nurses at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in both Boston and Milford, especially Drs. Taplin and Tahir and his infusion nurse, Catherine.
There will be a funeral mass at Saint Mary of the Hill's Church in Boylston on December 28  at 10:30 a.m., followed by a Celebration of Life reception.
In lieu of flowers,  please donate to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Shriners Hospital for Children, or the MSPCA, all in Boston.
To plant a memorial tree in memory, please visit our tree store.

Funeral Services

Funeral Mass

December
28

Saturday

St. Mary of the Hills

630 Cross St, Boylston, MA 01505

Starts at 10:30 am

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