By Maurice “Mossy” Martin
While sipping my Coors Light at Brendan Behan’s with my Saturday night Irish-music gang, I was pleasantly surprised when the wonderful Father Dabney visited our table.
He served at Mission Church for a dozen years before being transferred to Baltimore Provincial House in Washington, D.C., in 2019. Father Dabney was loved by his Mission Hill parishioners, and a bench in his honor aptly sits across Mission Church.
I offered to buy Fr, Dabney a beer, but he was content with his ginger ale. Fr. Dabney was in town for a farewell mass for 92-year-old Father Lennon, who is now in the Marion Manor nursing home in Florida.
Fr. Lennon had been the Healing and Restoration Minister at Mission Church since 1986. A Mission Grammar School graduate, Fr. Lennon played on the famous Mission CYO championship baseball team in 1944. He and his Mission Grammar School teammates lived out their dreams, playing at Fenway Park and Braves Field, and before the games, they lit candles at Mission Church for their older brothers who were fighting in World War II.
The sound of sneakers squeaking on the floor and balls bouncing on the basketball court echoed through Reggie Lewis Center, as 200 kids participated in the annual Wayne Selden Basketball Clinic. The 28-year-old Selden, from Mission Hill, has played in the NBA,. most recently with the New York Knicks, and he has also competed in China and Israel.
A pleasant kid from a wonderful family, Wayne never forgets his Mission Hill connection. Wayne’s grandfather, Anthony “Amps” Pitts instructed many of the kids, emphasizing basketball fundamentals. Amps was a great hoopster back in the old days and he was my teammate on the Mission Hill Liquors softball team when Wayne was our 4-year-old batboy.
I enjoyed chatting with Wayne’s father, Wayne Selden Sr., who was also on our softball team. The elder Selden was known for his moon-shot homeruns at Mclaughlin Park.
Condolences to the family and friends of Paul McConoghy, a Mission Hill resident who passed away after battling cancer.
Paul, who worked as a landscaper, was an easygoing guy who wore a constant smile. He had many friends and several of them gathered at the Flynn House in Mission Park to celebrate Paul’s life. R.I.P., Paul.
Happy 84th birthday (Aug.18) to my friend, Jim McGonagle, a former local boxing star who fought many times in the Boston Garden and at the old Boston Arena. Jim grew up in Tobin Court, where he learned how to defend himself at an early age when he was a member of the Emanons, a carefree Mission Hill group in the 1950s who were often bullied by the older, ruffian Checkered Aces gang.. God Bless Jim’s sister, Sister Helen Mary McGonagle, who will celebrate her birthday Aug.31.
Sister Helen who is an avid M.H. Gazette reader attended Mission Grammar School, and she also taught at that wonderful school.
The Mission Hill Post 327 will hold its annual Golf Fundraiser Saturday, Sept.24, at the Norwood Country Club. A $10,000 prize will be awarded for a hole in one on the 7th hole, for more information, contact our Commander, Col. George Rollins at 703 209-2124.
Mission Hill Post 327 members are proud of our Senior Vice Commander, Nancy Ross, who accompanied a group of wheelchair-bound veterans on a fishing excursion on Quincy Bay.
The Mark MacDougall Memorial Golf Tournament will take place Aug. 18 at Easton Country Club. For information, email [email protected].
Condolences to the family of Mae Chaisson Bannon who passed away last month.
Mae, who lived up the Hill for years, was a dedicated worker at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital while raising a terrific family. I knew Mae and the Bannons from back in our days in the Mission Hill project. Mae will be dearly missed.
Good luck to Erdi Kembora, who recently purchased the Westbury Restaurant in West Roxbury.
Erdi acquired his admirable work ethic from his wonderful mother, Ermira Kembora. Ermira serves me coffee with a smile every morning at Mike’s Donuts in Mission Hill.
I did some banking business last month at Needham Bank in Mission Hill (1457 Tremont St.) and Personal Banker, Ermis Pena Brito was helpful and so nice. Stephanie Robinson, the Assistant Branch Manager, also interacted with me in a professional convivial manner.
If money doesn’t grow on trees, why do banks have branches?