Marlborough – Carol Ann (Martin) Tully of Marlborough MA, (formerly of Framingham), passed away peacefully from a prolonged illness on June 22, 2023, two days after her 84th birthday.
Born in Cambridge MA to Robert and Doris (Goguen) Martin, she was raised in Arlington and Waltham, MA and was a graduate of St. Mary’s High School Class of 1957; where she excelled academically and enjoyed being a cheerleader. St. Mary’s is also where she met her late husband James M. Tully with whom she shared 55 years of marriage before he passed away in January of 2017.
Having won a state-wide secretarial skills contest, it was only natural that before having her family, Carol worked for Raytheon Corporation as an executive secretary where she held a high security clearance.
Once the youngest of her four daughters was in school, she returned to the workforce part-time, as an executive secretary at Elbanobscot Environmental Center in Sudbury and as a legal secretary for the law firm Nealon and Rogers in Framingham and Hopkinton and then served as an Office Manager for College Counsel in Natick.
Carol and Jim moved to Framingham, MA to raise their family. In addition to her professional pursuits as an excellent secretary and office manager; for decades she also filled the most important role of CEO and Chief Operating Officer for Tully Enterprises, a small but thriving family firm consisting of four growing daughters, a busy husband and two cats.
In that role she oversaw complex transportation operations, meeting daily nutritional needs, medical triage, managing emotional support systems, as well as providing educational and moral guidance for her four daughters. She also taught CCD for several years in her home for St. Jeremiah’s Church.
With a family history on her father’s side of Sea Captains, she was viscerally drawn to the ocean. Her favorite place in the world was the beach. She coordinated family vacations to Hampton, NH, Cape Cod and Maine. She and her dear friends Betty and Connie were often spotted hauling station wagons full of their own and neighborhood children to various beaches for swimming lessons and ocean day trips.
Besides her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her brothers Robert and Paul.
Carol is survived by her four daughters; Cheryl Tully Stoll and her husband Edwin of Framingham, MA; Christine Gauthier and her husband James of Avon CT; Linda Thompson and her husband Martin of Mansfield, MA; and Marybeth Fagan and her husband Daniel of Ashland, MA. She also leaves behind four grandchildren; Kylie Gauthier, Noelle Gauthier, Michael Thompson and Christopher Fagan. She is also survived by her Sister Donna Martin and her husband John Clinton of Plymouth, MA and sisters-in-law Sandra Martin of Durham, NC, Stella Izzo of Sandwich, MA and Anne Tully of Marlborough, MA.
Family and friends will honor and remember Carol by gathering for a period of visitation at Matarese Funeral Home, 325 Main Street, Ashland, MA on Tuesday, June 27 from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM. Her funeral mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 28 at 10:00 AM in St. Matthew Church 15 Highland Street, Southborough, MA with a reception to follow.
Donations in Carol’s memory can be made to A Place to Turn Food Pantry, 99 Hartford Street, Natick MA 01760 or www.aplacetoturn-natick.org.
