Amos James Mahony

Amos James Mahony passed peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends after a long illness. Born June 12, 1917 in Pepperell, he was the third of seven children of Marion Barton Mahony and Amos Daniel Mahony. He graduated from Pepperell High School in 1935 and Nashua Business School in 1952. Drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in March 1942, he completed the Air Force Radio School, and served in the China-Burma-India campaign. After the war, he was employed as plant manager of the Pepperell Braiding Factory, from which he retired more than forty years later.

A lifelong resident of Pepperell, and the third generation of Mahonys to live in town, Amos carried on a family tradition of civic engagement, ecumenical faith, and interest in progress. He touched generations of area residents with his singing, his volunteerism and his service. Amos and his wife Pauline were well known figures at area social and civic events. At dances they amazed all who saw them with their graceful foxtrots and waltzes. He was an active member of the Pepperell Democratic Town Committee, a founding member of the Pepperell Historical Association, the Pepperell Conservation Trust, and many other local organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Knights of Columbus, Fourth Degree. Following his father and grandfather, he was a past Grand Knight of the Pepperell Knights of Columbus.

In 1953, he joined the Board of Trustees of Pepperell's Lawrence Library. For the next sixty years, he remained the library's steadfast supporter, guardian and visionary. In 1999, he won the Massachusetts Library Trustee Association's Trustee of the Year award. As Amos's 1999 MLTA award letter stated "His vision has been a steady influence on all who have worked with him. Above all, in bad times and in good, he has always been a gentleman�the "Best of the Best" in both public and private life." In 2013, he was named Trustee Emeritus "in recognition of over 50 years of continuous, dedicated service" to the library.

Amos was predeceased in 2006 by his wife of 53 years, M. Pauline Mahony. He is survived by his daughters, Mary Ann Mahony, of Unionville, Connecticut; and Paula Mahony of Portland, Maine; two grandsons Samuel and Matthew Silberstein of Portland, Maine; two siblings, Helen Colburn of Vincennes, Indiana and Robert J. Mahony of Bellevue, Washington, and many nieces, nephews and friends. He will be sorely missed by all who had the good fortune to know him.

Calling hours will be Thursday, October 10, 2-4 and 7-9; Friday, October 11, 2-4 and 7-9 at Marchand Funeral Home, 16 Pleasant St., Pepperell; Mass of Christian Burial at St. Joseph's Church, 28 Tarbell Street, Pepperell, Saturday, October 12 at 10:00. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Friends of the Lawrence Library.