Robert R. Moulton Sr., 76
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - Longtime businessman and Deacon Robert Roy Moulton Sr., 76, of 1191 Massachusetts Ave. died Thursday, July 29, 2010, at North Adams Regional Hospital after being stricken earlier at his home.
Mr. Moulton founded Moulton's Spectacle Shop but touched more people in the community from his calling as a deacon for the Catholic Community of Adams. He was a recipient of the Rosasco Humanitarian Award, given in remembrance of North Adams native Judge Ernest H. Rosasco who was active in multiple activities.
The posting of his passing on Mayor Richard Alcombright's Facebook page drew an outpouring of condolences and memories from residents of how "Deacon Bob" had married them, or baptized their children or visited they or a family member in the hospital.
"We knew him as a wonderful man who touched so many people through his family and his ministry," wrote the mayor. "He will be sorely missed ... and lovingly remembered."
Born in Manchester, N.H., on June 10, 1934, son of Roy Moulton and Hazel MacIntosh Moulton Lillie, he attended schools in North Adams and graduated from Drury High School with the class of 1952 and from North Adams State Teachers College, now Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
Mr. Moulton was first employed by the former Sprague Electric Co. in quality control but later joined Hoosac Valley Optical Co. in 1953 and became a certified licensed optician and a certified audiotrician. He also taught science and was an adjustment counselor in the Adams School System and then spent three years as a high school councilor at McCann Technical School.
He and his wife, the former Carolyn Cicchetti, purchased the optical company in 1971, turning it into Moulton's Spectacle Shoppe, and later opened another shop in Bennington, Vt. He retired from the optical and hearing aids business in 1994 to devote himself full time as a deacon.
He was a convert to Catholicism in 1956 and was accepted in 1989 by the Most Rev. Bishop Joseph Maguire into the Deaconate program for the Diocese of Springfield. Four years later, he was ordained a permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Church being the first deacon to be ordained in Northern Berkshire. He was also the founder of the Eucharistic Adoration in North Adams and Adams.
Deacon Moulton said he was not a "cradle catholic" but converted at the age of 26. "I am tremendously blessed. I can't believe the Lord has given me this many blessings, beginning with my wife and my children," he had said. "I know I am doing what God wants me to."
He also was a director at the Adams Co-Operative Bank and president of RMA Foundation, founded by the Rev. Peter Pagano, which supports good works and spreads the knowledge of Virgin Mary.
Besides his wife, whom he married on Sept. 11, 1954, in the former St. Anthony of Padua Church, he leaves six sons, Peter Moulton and his wife, Laurie, John Moulton and his wife, Jenny, Mark Moulton and his wife, Cathy, Matthew Moulton and Robert R. Moulton Jr. and his wife, Bonny, all of North Adams, and Christopher Moulton and his wife, Kerry, of North Carolina; four daughters, Mary Ann Meaney and her husband, John, Theresa Denault and her husband, Michael, Maria Moulton and Roxana Moulton, all of North Adams; 26 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
He was predeceased by a brother, Donald Moulton.
FUNERAL NOTICE - Funeral services for Mr. Moulton will take place Monday, Aug. 2, 2010, at 11 with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church. Burial will follow in the family plot in Southview Cemetery.
Calling hours will be Sunday, Aug. 1, from 3 to 7 at Pope John Paul the Great Church in Adams. Benediction will follow the calling hours and Eucharistic Adoration will continue throughout the night for anyone who wishes to attend, until the time of the funeral on Monday. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are suggested for RMA Foundation or VNA & Hospice of Northern Berkshire through Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, 74 Marshall St., North Adams, MA 01247, which is in charge of arrangements.