LYONS, John Michael of Norwood, formerly of Wellesley, West Roxbury and Mission Hill, passed away on March 19, 2025. Beloved husband of the late Ann Stacia (Mara) Lyons. Devoted father of Stacia Mara Lyons of Norwood, John Michael Lyons, Jr., of Norwood, Christopher William Lyons and his wife Cynthia (Hines) of Weymouth. Dear brother of Margaret Theresa O’Connor of CA. Loving grandfather of John Robert and Mara Rose Woernle, Annie Grace, Rose Elizabeth, Maureen Catherine, and Margaret Alice Lyons. Uncle Brian, Mark, and John O’Connor all of CA.
John was born February 4, 1935, to Helena (Fallon) and Michael John Lyons. In 1941, his father passed away and the family was forced to move into The Projects in Mission Hill. John always said that FDR’s New Deal saved his family – a belief that shaped his lifelong values.
John was a proud graduate of Mission Grammar and High School and served as president of the class of 1953. It was at Mission High John had the good fortune of playing football for Paul Banks. Paul was a great influence on John and with Paul’s mentorship John thrived. John was the captain, called the plays, named Boston Herald All Scholastic and ultimately earned a football scholarship to Boston College. Paul sparked John’s love for coaching and teaching.
John played football for Boston College through his junior year and graduated in 1957. After graduation, he served in the Army, choosing to be a medic so that he didn’t have to carry a gun. He was stationed in Texas – thus began his strong dislike of Texas.
John started his teaching and coaching career at Mission High School in Roxbury, followed by positions in the Boston Public Schools and Danvers High School before finding his home at Catholic Memorial High School. He started as an English teacher and then became a History teacher. He retired from CM in 1998 after 33 years. Along with teaching full-time, he worked Monday – Friday 4 pm – 8 pm as a security guard at GTE – a reflection of his belief that “life is a trade-off” and his dedication to providing for his family.
In the fall of 1966, he met the love of his life, Ann Stacia Mara at the Boston Public Library. They became engaged at New Year’s and were married February 18, 1967. The newlyweds settled in West Roxbury, where their three children were born – Stacia Mara, John Michael, Jr. and Christopher William. In 1975, they moved to Wellesley where they lived until their move to Norwood in 2015. John and Ann shared 55 years of marriage until her death in 2022.
After retirement, John and Ann traveled extensively, especially loving the trips that included their grandchildren. In addition to their love of family and travel, they both enjoyed movies, books and politics. John was a Democrat with a capital “D”, a belief he carried with deep conviction, and he always reminded his children to “never vote Republican”, a sentiment as much about his values as it was about his sense of humor. And, of course, if there’s one thing, he wanted us to remember, whether it was playing football or in life, you had to play the angles.
As a Boston College Football season ticket holder, John enjoyed following and traveling to go to games. Fittingly John’s last big trip was in September 2016, to the BC vs. Georgia Tech game in Dublin.
John enjoyed coaching football – he coached at the high school level, but he very much enjoyed coaching his sons in Pop Warner, leading several winning seasons and always submitted a write-up each week to the Wellesley Townsman that mentioned each kid by name and their contribution to that week’s game. Ann would take the article and submit to the Townsman office Monday morning so that it would be in that week’s paper. After retiring from the classroom in 1998, he went back to coaching at Catholic Memorial.
John wasn’t a fan of rules and didn’t impose many, but he told his children if they lived under his roof there were three rules they needed to live by – never cross a picket line, always vote democrat and drink your coffee black.
John lived the American Dream.
Visiting Hours in the William J. Gormley Funeral Home, 2055 Centre Street, WEST ROXBURY, on Thursday, March 27th from 4:00pm to 8:00pm. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Interment private. In lieu of flowers donations in memory of John may be made to the, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Mission Grammar School Attn: Office of Advancement, 94 St. Alphonsus St., Roxbury, MA 02120 or www.missiongrammar.org For guest book please visit www.gormleyfuneral.com