Mary W. Birmingham

Waltham – Mrs. Mary (Welch) Birmingham of Waltham, died Tuesday, January 10, 2006 at Maristhill Nursing Home, Waltham. She was 100 years old. She was the wife of the late Thomas E. Birmingham. Born in Boston on March 17, 1905, a daughter of the late Richard and Mary (Groom) Welch, she lived in Newtonville before moving to Waltham in 1940. Mary graduated from Newton High School and received her bachelors and Master in Education degrees from Boston University. Until her retirement, she was a special education teacher for the Waltham Public Schools, primarily at the Robbins School on Chestnut Street. Before becoming a teacher she worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Liberty Mutual Life Insurance Company. Mary was also active at Saint Jude Church in Waltham where she was a CCD teacher for many years and a volunteer reading teacher at the parish school for more than twenty years. Besides teaching, another of her passions was traveling the world, having made trips to Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Russia and throughout the United States. She also enjoyed knitting and, until the closing of Waltham Hospital, she made socks and bonnets for newborns at the hospital for many years. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Chapter of Pi Lamda Tetha at Boston University, the Pro Parvulis Club in association with Sunset Point Camp for Children in Scituate, the Council on Exceptional Children, the Massachusetts Retired Teachers Association and the National Educators Association. Beloved by many, she will long be remembered as an inspiration to others as a generous and humble person whose goods works extended throughout the community. Mary leaves her sisters, Joan Bradford of Hull and Gertrude Shelley of Boston and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was also a sister of the late Richard, Paul, and William Welch, Natalie Flynn and Margaret O’Connell. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral at 9:30 a.m. Saturday from The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham followed by a Funeral Mass in Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Waltham. Visiting hours are Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to Saint Jude School, 175 Main Street, Waltham, MA 02453.