Folsom Funeral Service

Services for Thomas J. Kiely have been rescheduled.   August 22nd at 10 am.  Any family or friends who incurred expenses from the postponed services should contact the funeral home for advice.

Thomas Joseph Kiely, a resident of Traditions in Dedham, and formerly of Westwood, died Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at his apartment in Dedham.  He was 95.  Thomas was born February 20, 1925 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the three children of Joseph and Mary Kiely, immigrants from Ireland.  Thomas enlisted in the US Army and fought during World War Two in battles in Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes, and in Central Europe.  He engaged in nine months of combat including the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of the Gusen Concentration Camp.  His service with the 26th Yankee Division of General Patton’s Third army took him from Alsace Lorraine to Czechoslovakia, and included several battlefield promotions. The Yankee Division rescued the remaining prisoners in the Gusen camp, thereby preventing a planned massacre. He was honorably discharged in 1946.  After the war Tom attended Harvard University on the GI Bill, graduating with the Class of 1950.  He also earned an engineering degree from Northeastern University.  Thomas spent over 30 years as a Quality Control manager for the Polaroid Corporation, working closely with the founder of Polaroid, Dr. Edwin Land, until his retirement in 1987. He was active on the Parish Council of St. Denis Church in Westwood and in later years served as a Eucharistic Minister there along with his wife Marilyn. His sense of humor will not be forgotten, as his endless fund of wordplay stayed with him into his ninety-fifth year. Tom was the husband of the late Marilyn Rose (Masterson) Kiely who predeceased him in 2019, and the brother of the late David Kiely, and the late Mary Cahalane.  Thomas is survived by his daughter, Kimberly Goss, and her husband James, of Westwood; his two sons, Christopher Kiely of Westwood, and Jay T. Kiely of Rockland; and his three grandchildren, Kiely, Bridgette, and Tiernan Goss.  A Mass of Christian Burial for Thomas was held on Saturday, August 22, 2020 at 10am, at St Denis Church in Westwood, followed by interment at Mt. Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury.  In lieu of flowers donations to the Jimmy Fund, c/o Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th Floor, Brookline, MA 02445 or to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959, or to the Fisher House of Boston, PO Box 230, South Walpole, MA 02071 would be appreciated.   Services for Thomas were livestreamed, and the full video if his services can be viewed at  www.harborview.live

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