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Margaret G. Lane, 87, librarian
Arlington
Tuesday, May 4, 1999
Margaret G. (Murphy) Lane of Arlington, a librarian at Harvard University, died Saturday at Tippet House in Needham after a lengthy illness. She was 87.
Born in Cambridge, she graduated from Cambridge High and Latin School.
Mrs. Lane began her career at the John Hancock Insurance Co. She then worked as a cataloguer at Widener Library at Harvard.
Wife of the late John Jr., Mrs. Lane is survived by two sons, John III of Arlington and Peter of Chelsea; three grandchildren; three great - grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated tomorrow at 9 a.m. at St. Agnes' Church, Arlington.
Burial will be in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Arlington.
Arrangements by Keefe Funeral Home Inc., Arlington.
Dorothy Ormsby, retired retail manager, at 82
Marshfield
Thursday, November 11, 1999
Dorothy C. (Corliss) Ormsby of Marshfield, Eastham and Lakeland, Fla., a retired retail manager, died at home Friday. She was 82.
Born in Everett, she attended local schools. She graduated from LaSalle College in 1939. She also attended Colby College.
Mrs. Ormsby was a manager in the retail business for many years.
She was a member and past matron of the Order of the Eastern Star 201 in Orleans, past president of the American Auxiliary Unit 308 in Orleans, member of the Federated Church in Orleans, member of the Orleans Womens Club, and member of Ameranth in Englewood, Fla.
Wife of the late Ralph L., Mrs. Ormsby is survived by a daughter, Sandra O. Howerton of Marshfield; a son, William of Lakeland, Fla.; five grandchildren, one great - grandchild and many nieces and nephews.
A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Federated Church of Orleans, Orleans.
Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Eastham.
Arrangements by Deware Funeral Home, Quincy.
Damiano Ragusa, at 86, retired fisherman
Medford
Saturday, April 24, 1999
Damiano F. ``Miano" Ragusa of Medford, a retired commercial fisherman, died Monday at home. He was 86.
Born in Boston, he lived in Medford for 53 years.
He was a commercial fisherman, working at the Boston Fish Pier for most of his life.
Mr. Ragusa was a member of the Ausonia Council Knights of Columbus and the Madonna DelSoccorso Society.
Mr. Ragusa is survived by his wife, Mary R. (Spinale); a son, Phillip of Salem, N.H.; two daughters, Marguerite Moreau of Medford and Roseann Chardo of Concord; seven grandchildren; and nine great - grandchildren.
A funeral Mass was held yesterday at Sacred Heart Church, Boston.
Burial was in St. Michael Cemetery, Boston.
Arrangements by Dello Russo Funeral Service, Medford.
Actress Ruth Roman, 73, Andrea Doria survivor
Boston/Laguna Beach, California
Sunday, September 12, 1999
West End native Ruth Roman, who began her career as a knife - thrower at Revere Beach and ended up in movies starring Gary Cooper and Errol Flynn, has died. She was 73.
Ms. Roman, who survived the Andrea Doria wreck at sea, died Thursday in her sleep at her Laguna Beach, Calif., home, her son, Richard Hall said.
Hall was only 3 years old when he and his mother were returning from Italy aboard the Andrea Doria on the night of July 25, 1956, when the luxury passenger liner collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm.
More than 50 people died in the tragedy and 760 survived after the liner went down 60 miles southeast of Nantucket.
Ms. Roman once recalled the incident and said she was dancing in the Andrea Doria's ballroom when ``We heard a big explosion, like a firecracker."
Another passenger on the ship said Ms. Roman took her high heels off and raced to her cabin where Hall was asleep.
The actress said she never feared she or her son would die.
But the two were separated when she was taken aboard the Ile de France and her son was put on the Stockholm. After several anxious hours, they were reunited in New York City.
Ruth Roman was her real name and she attended the Blackstone School and Girls High in Boston.
Her father owned a carny show at Revere Beach and, at age 9, little Ruth became a knife - thrower and the show biz bug bit her.
In 1948, Alice McIntire, assistant head worker at the old Elizabeth Peabody Settlement House on Beacon Hill, recalled, ``Knife throwing wasn't enough for Ruth. She was interested in dramatics and we encouraged her.
``Ruth always insisted her big ambition, her only ambition really, was to be in the movies," McIntire said.
Ms. Roman had the lead role in many plays performed at the Peabody House.
``She was a quick study in dramatics and took directions beautifully, even as a child," McIntire said.
Ms. Roman didn't care much for formal schooling and dropped out of Girls High in 1939 and enrolled in the Bishop - Lee School of the Theater in the Hub.
Ms. Roman eventually moved to Tinseltown and appeared in some minor films before her big break in Stanley Kramer's 1949 ``Champion," which featured the Oscar - nominated Kirk Douglas.
Following the film, Warner Bros. offered Ms. Roman a contract and she starred in nine films in less than two years opposite Cooper, Flynn and James Stewart.
Ms. Roman also appeared in ``Beyond the Forest" with Bette Davis, ``Three Secrets" with Patricia Neal and ``Mara Maru" with Flynn.
Her other films included ``The Far Country" with Stewart, ``Bitter Victory" with Richard Burton and ``Dallas" with Cooper.
In all, Ms. Roman appeared in more than 30 movies, most of them in the 1950s, and a number of television shows in the 1960s and 1970s, including ``Naked City," ``Knots Landing" and ``Murder She Wrote."
Thomas J. Spring, 62, master plumber
Squantum
Tuesday, February 29, 2000
Thomas J. Spring of Squantum, a self - employed master plumber, died Saturday at his home after a brief battle with cancer. He was 62.
Mr. Spring served as a radioman in the Navy.
A self - employed master plumber, he was a member of Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 and worked on several Boston and Squantum projects. He also worked at the Fore River Shipyard.
Mr. Spring coached and played adult softball in Quincy and coached Squantum Little League for 10 years.
He was a foster father to several children with his former wife, Barbara.
Mr. Spring is survived by his wife, Kathleen (Doherty) of Squantum; two sons, John J. of Weymouth and Stephen T. of Squantum; two daughters, Kelley A. Boyd of Weymouth and Johanna K. of Squantum; a brother, Edward of Quincy; two sisters, Katherine of Quincy and Ellen Staff of Winthrop; and five nieces.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Star of the Sea Church, Squantum.
Burial will be in Pine Hill Cemetery, Quincy.
Arrangments by Deware Funeral Home, Quincy.
Kirk P. Surette, 37, Raytheon engineer
Quincy; Lynn
Thursday, December 30, 1999
Kirk P. Surette of Quincy, formerly of Lynn, an engineer for Raytheon Corp., died Friday at Boston University Medical Center after a brief illness. He was 37.
Born and educated in Lynn, Mr. Surette was a 1989 graduate of Wentworth Institute of Boston. For the past 12 years, he had been an engineer for Raytheon Corp. in Quincy.
He is survived by his wife, Michelle F. (Joyce); a daughter, Bridget Agnes; his parents, Paul D. and Jean N. (LeBlanc) of Plaistow, N.H.; three sisters, Clarene Taylor of Plaistow, Sonya of Haverhill and Erica Olsen of Sandown, N.H.; seven nieces and a nephew.
A funeral Mass was celebrated yesterday at St. John the Baptist Church, Quincy.
Burial was be in Pine Hill Cemetery, West Quincy.
Arrangements by Sweeney Brothers Home for Funerals, Quincy.
Ben Williams Jr., BankBoston exec
Jamaica Plain
Saturday, January 15, 2000
Ben Ames Williams Jr. of Jamaica Plain, a longtime BankBoston executive, died Dec. 21 at his home. He was 84.
Born in Newton, Mr. Williams was raised in Chestnut Hill and spent his summers at Lake Winnepesaukee, N.H.
He attended Chestnut Hill schools, Deerfield Academy and Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1938. As a senior fellow there, he wrote ``Mr. Secretary," a novel about Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war, which Houghton Mifflin published in 1940.
After graduation, Mr. Williams married and worked briefly for the Boston Transcript and the Harold Cabot advertising agency. He joined the First National Bank of Boston in 1941.
He served as an officer in the Navy during World War II, supplying parts for naval aircraft.
After the war, Mr. Williams returned to First National Bank of Boston, later BankBoston, where he served as an executive in charge of corporate commercial loans and as vice president. He later served as president of the Old Colony Trust Co. until its merger with BankBoston. He retired in 1978.
After his retirement, Mr. Williams wrote his second book, a history of Bank of Boston, which was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1984.
He was director and chairman of the executive committee of Arthur D. Little Inc. in Cambridge. He served as chairman of the trustees of Thompson Academy (later Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center) and was on the boards of Children's Hospital, New England College Fund, the Museum of Science, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and the Winsor and Park Schools, among others.
A longtime member of the Country Club in Brookline, he was its president from 1968 to 1976. He was also a member of the Somerset Club and the Ski Club Hochgebirge.
Mr. Williams enjoyed travel, sailing, tennis, fishing and skiing.
He is survived by his wife, Jessie Ames (Marshall); three daughters, Jay Williams Howland of Jamaica Plain, Toby Williams Woll of Wayland and Susan Ames Williams of Portland, Maine; a sister, Ann Wardwell of Searsmont, Maine; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service was held yesterday at First Church, Chestnut Hill.
Arrangements by J.S. Waterman and Sons Eastman - Waring, Boston.
