March 27, 1932 – June 19, 2021
On Saturday, June 19th, 2021, Fred Irvin (“Bud”) Lamson passed away after eighty-nine joyful years as the center of a large and adoring family; son Steve and his wife Tina, daughter Janis and her husband Richard, daughter Sandie, daughter Dottie and her husband Larry, daughter Diane, daughter Carrie, son Mike and his wife Lizette, step-daughter Debbie and her husband Ed, stepdaughter Karen and her husband Gary, and stepson John and his wife Sonja. Bud passed peacefully, surrounded by family and cared for in particular by grandson Jeff supported by his wife Nicky, and daughter Carrie.
Somehow Bud managed to inspire and encourage all of those children, along with eighteen grandchildren and twenty-five great-grandchildren – no small task, but one undertaken with great love and devotion. Those who got to know Bud felt great affection and respect for him, and he built a wide group of friends
in his long life.
Bud was born in Everett, MA on March 27th, 1932 to Fred and Glenys Lamson, then raised as an only child in Malden, MA, where he grew into a young man whose passion for baseball (he aspired to be like the great Bobby Doerr) would lead to lifelong friendships but also to a life of hardship as a devoted but fiercely critical Red Sox fan. Fittingly, it was after a baseball game that he began his relationship with his future bride, the late Margaret Rouillard, walking her home in the early evening like a true gentleman. Bud and Margaret married on December 15, 1951, after Bud joined the Marines, from which he was honorably discharged in 1954.
Bud and Margaret raised their family in Melrose, while keeping a strong tie to Malden, especially through Lamson & Davis Hardware, a family business where Bud worked tirelessly and was rewarded with the respect and admiration of countless employees and customers, many of whom became close friends. Every child, and many nieces and nephews, earned some spending money at “the store” stocking shelves, cashiering, driving deliveries, managing the accounts, and anything else one can imagine being needed at a hardware store.
Throughout those years, Bud loved spending time with his family at “the farm” in North Berwick, Maine, where he and his best friend and brother-in-law, the late Roy Schluntz, along with Margaret’s sisters Beverly Schluntz, Betty Jackson, and the late Louise Moore, would bring together the hordes of cousins for joyful mayhem. Bud was “Uncs” to eleven nieces and nephews.
After the loss of his beloved Margaret in 1993, Bud was later blessed to join the family of the late Shirley Jones Sutton Lamson. Bud married Shirley in 1995, and moved to Sandwich, MA, to help Shirley run the Isaiah Jones Bed and Breakfast. Bud and Shirley spent many happy years on the Cape in the company of their dogs, surrounded by beautiful nature in their retirement house, and forming bonds in the church and Sandwich community.
After twenty wonderful years together, Bud endured the loss of Shirley in 2015. Thanks to his faith and strength, he only grew kinder and more grateful for the blessings in his life, joining his daughter Carrie and grandson Jeff in Reading, MA, where he lived in peace and happiness for the rest of his days. Throughout his life, and to the end, Bud was a philosopher, a poet, and a lover of history, crafting hundreds of poems, essays, and memoirs. Through his writing, his work at the store, his charity efforts, and his selfless dedication to his family, Bud left this Earth a better place than he found it, and made each
of us who were blessed to know him a better person.
Relatives and friends are invited to gather in honor of Bud’s life during visiting hours at the Robinson Funeral Home, 809 Main St., Melrose on Thursday, June 24 from 5-8pm. Private interment at Forest Dale Cemetery, Malden.
