Tracy Sheehan

Watertown - Tracy Sheehan loved many things in life but above all else she absolutely adored and cherished being mother to Maggie and Aidan. She also had a passion for education and teaching and as a result…made a difference in the lives of so many people.

Her four year battle with lung cancer came to its end on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. She died peacefully in the presence and love of her family. She was 49. Even throughout her sickness the manner in which she fought her disease and lived each day were teaching moments. Diagnosed in May of 2013 she developed and fostered relationships and friendships with her medical team and the many people who she encountered at Dana – Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Born on April 13, 1968 in St. Mark's Hospital in Dorchester she is a daughter of Irish immigrants Anthony A. 'Aidan' and Pauline P. (Molloy) Reynolds. Raised and educated in Brighton she was a graduate of Mount Saint Joseph High School. Tracy earned her Bachelor's degree in education and biology and later her Master's degree in Education, both from Boston University.

She began her career in education as a biology teacher at Westborough High School where she taught for over 9 years. She later became curriculum director for the Virtual High School in Maynard. And from her hospital bed she was continued to work through emails and phone calls. She made a difference.

She met Watertown native Thomas Sheehan and they later married on June 24, 2000 in Saint Columbkille Church and shortly thereafter moved to Watertown.

Tracy was an active volunteer at her children's school, Mount Alvernia in Newton. She was beyond generous and passionate with her time and was the go-to-mother when things needed to be organized. She had the ability to get others involved in the various activities at the school.

True to her much loved Irish heritage she had a contagious sense of humor and enjoyed a good laugh. Tom and Tracy were season ticket holders to the New England Patriots and she loved the company of her two cats, Murray and Cindy, and her dog, Samantha.

In addition to her husband of seventeen years, Tom, and her children, Margaret J. 'Maggie' (age 13) and Aidan J. (age 12) she leaves her parents, Aidan and Pauline Reynolds of Brighton; her brother, Brian A. Reynolds and his wife, Beth L., of Ashland; her sister-in-law Kathleen Ambrose and her husband, Christopher J., of Reading and her brother-in-law John J. Sheehan and his wife, Judith M., of Lowell; her sister-in-law, Anne Sheehan of Wakefield and several nieces and nephews.

Family and friends will honor and remember Tracy's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Sunday, July 23rd from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 8 a.m. on Monday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Patrick's Church, 212 Main Street, Watertown where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Burial will follow in Ridgelawn Cemetery, Watertown.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to The Sheehan Children's Educational Fund, in c/o Watertown Savings Bank, 60 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472.