AS OF WEDNESDAY, 122 people had died from COVID-19 in Massachusetts. Many died alone. Their funerals were tiny; their memorial services were postponed. Their families often grieved alone. These are some of those people.
Riley Rumrill, 31, enjoyed bowling and karaoke. The Boston Globe reported that Rumrill loved spending time with other people. He worked in human resources and drove an Uber. He would spend Sundays with family, often cooking at his brother’s house.
Theodore Monette, 74, spent his career serving his country. He was a retired US Army colonel who worked as a senior official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to MassLive, Monette led the recovery efforts in Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Michael McKinnell, 84, was only 27 when, along with his graduate school professor, he submitted the winning design for the new Boston City Hall building. He would become a world-renowned architect and go on to design the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge and the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, according to the Gloucester Daily Times. He was also a painter who called Rockport home.
Richard Ottoway, 88, was a retired Episcopal priest living in Brewster. He enjoyed oysters and wine, collected bow ties, and fed wild birds, the Boston Globe reported. He grew up poor, in rural North Carolina, and went on to become a small-town minister, then a university chaplain. He always kept a Bible nearby.
Larry Rasky, 66, was a Democratic consultant and political confidante to former Vice President Joe Biden. Rasky founded a Boston public relations firm, after working for political giants like Jimmy Carter, John Kerry, and Ed Markey. USA Today wrote that Rasky worked as Biden’s press secretary when Biden ran for president in 1988, then joined his presidential campaign as communications director 20 years later.
Anup Singh, 71, was a retired electrical engineer who worked for Pittsfield Plastics Engineering. He was a practicing Hindu, whose family moved from India to Pittsfield in 1998. Speaking to the Berkshire Eagle, his son described Singh as a humble, hardworking family man who would find humor and spiritual acceptance in the toughest situations.
