...Lowell "Mill Girl;" 91
TEWKSBURY - Celia A. (Fantini) Thing, age 91, a member of a large well known Tewksbury family, died Wednesday evening, April 27, at Saints Medical Center in Lowell after a brief illness. She was the beloved wife for 66 years of Leroy C. "Red" Thing, who died in 2008.
She was born on the Fantini Farm on Marston Street in Tewksbury, November 23, 1919, one of eight children of the late Frank and Dora (Barbieri) Fantini.
She began her working career as a "Mill Girl" at Lowell's Wannalancit Mills, and is featured speaking about her experiences as a "Mill Girl" in a video interview in the Lowell Textile Museum. She later became an employee of Raytheon in South Lowell, and retired from the Raytheon's West Andover Missile Division.
She is survived by two children, Anita Kopacz of Tewksbury, and Theodore "Ted" Thing of Westford; a grandson, Richard Kopacz and his wife Erica of Tewksbury; two great grandchildren, Nicole and Tyler Kopacz of Tewksbury; a sister, Florence Ayer of Barre, VT; a brother-in-law, Wendall Gallant of Wakefield; and many nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by her brothers and sisters, Ted Fantini, George Fantini, Narcissa Hodges, Caroline Secchiaroli, Frances Fantini, and Dorothy Gallant.
Her Funeral Mass was celebrated Monday, May 2,in St. William's Church, Tewksbury. Burial followed in Tewksbury Cemetery. Memorials to the American Heart Association, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701-4688, will be appreciated.