Hudson – Longtime Hudson resident Martin Joseph Moran III – a father of four, devoted Catholic, and steward of rivers and wetlands – passed away on March 21, 2021 at Goddard House Assisted Living in Brookline. He was 80 years old and died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes.
Marty was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., and received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Manhattan College. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1963 to 1966, principally aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Farragut, and achieved the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University as well as a master’s in Computer Science from Boston University.
It was at Ohio State that Marty met Frances Chmura, a graduate student in nursing from Parma, Ohio, and the two were married in 1968. A few years later, the family moved to Davis Road in Hudson, where Marty lived for four decades and raised four children. Marty enjoyed exploring his interests with his children in tow, visiting museums, battleships, historic trains and forts, and tromping through the New England woods. He had a long career as an electrical engineer at GTE and its successor, General Dynamics.
In his retirement, Marty enjoyed traveling with his family – cruising the Rhine and Danube with his brother, touring Civil War battlefields with his daughter, embarking upon an Alaskan adventure with his sons and extended family, visiting the family bungalow in Breezy Point, N.Y., and taking many road trips to see relatives throughout the country. He preferred driving on “scenic” back roads so he could stop to read every single historical marker, a trait he passed on to his children.
Marty was a dedicated husband and father and a valued member of the community, devoting many hours to volunteering with the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, St. Michael’s Parish, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Hudson Conservation Commission, the Organization for the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord Rivers, and other groups. He was especially proud of his work cleaning up the Assabet River, protecting wetlands from development, and managing the books for St. Vincent de Paul. Though he moved to Brookline in 2019 to be closer to family, his heart always remained in Hudson.
Marty was preceded in death by his wife, Frances (Chmura) Moran, and is survived by daughter Barbara Moran and husband Brian Collins of Brookline; daughter Patricia Moran and husband Andy McIlvaine of Cambridge; son Thomas Moran and partner Amanda Hatton of Fairbanks, Ak.; and son Martin Moran IV and partner Molly Reid of Gettysburg, Pa. He also leaves three grandchildren, Finn and Hugh Collins of Brookline and Caroline McIlvaine of Cambridge, and is survived by three siblings, Hugh Moran of Hoffman Estates, Ill., Mary Moran of Brookline, and Alice McGovern of Portland, Or.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, March 26, at 11 a.m., at Saint Michael’s Church in Hudson. Burial with military honors will follow in Forestvale Cemetery, Hudson. Calling hours will be held on Thursday, March 25, from 4-7 p.m., at the Tighe-Hamilton Funeral Home, 50 Central St., Hudson.
Anyone who wishes to make a donation in Marty’s name can contribute to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Michael Parish, or the Organization for the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord Rivers.
