Colin E. Bourn

Colin E. Bourn, 86, of Ashby and Creggan, Northern Ireland, died at home on August 29th following a short battle with Paget’s Disease. Raised in Whitton, Twickenham, London, Colin was born October 5, 1937, at 8:30 PM—the elder twin by 10 minutes—to John Edward and Mary Ann (Bourke) Bourn. Growing up in London, Colin attended St. Edmund’s Primary School, Whitton, St. James Primary School, Twickenham, and St. Benedict’s School, Ealing. During WWII, Colin and his twin evacuated to his mother’s family home in Creggan. It was in class with Miss Crossey at the local primary school that Colin learned to knit, a passion he pursued long into his eighties! In 1955, Colin immigrated to the U.S. to enter the seminary. He spent his Novitiate year in Mystic, CT, continuing his studies at St. Michael’s College, Winooski Park, VT. Colin graduated at the top of the Class of 1959, Summa Cum Laude, with a BA in Philosophy. Colin continued his theological studies at St. Michael’s for an additional three years and was active in the Society of Saint Edmund. In January 1962, Colin decided to leave the seminary and moved to Ashby, MA to teach at Ashby High School. He taught for three semesters while completing a Master of Education at Fitchburg State College in 1963. He also began his FSC tenure teaching in the summer sessions of 1962. In the Fall of 1963, Colin moved to Amherst, MA to pursue a Master of Arts in English at the University of Massachusetts. At UMass, Colin met his future wife, Kathleen M. Fenton, whom he married in Whitton, Twickenham, London, on July 27, 1965. Colin and Kathy made their home in Ashby, raising a family and embedding their lives within the local community. Colin joined the Fitchburg State College English Dept. faculty permanently in September 1965 and continued teaching at FSC until retiring on the last day of the millennium in 2000. Colin taught and subsequently coordinated the English course offerings for the FSC Evening and Summer School programs throughout his tenure. He was a popular teacher, promoted to Associate Professor in 1988, awarded the Vincent J. Mara Excellence in Teaching in 1996, and Professor Emeritus in 2002, among other accolades. Colin was passionate about 19th-century literature, particularly Jane Austen. For most of his adult life, he was an active member of the Jane Austen Society. Colin was an avid fiber artist, forever gifting his knitting, embroidery, needlepoint, and other bespoke crafts and projects to friends and loved ones. Colin loved to garden and devoted much of his spare time to refinishing furniture and renovating and preserving the 18th-century home that he and Kathy purchased in the Spring of 1968. Colin was not just a teacher but an active local community member. He served on the North Middlesex Regional School Committee for 25+ years, represented Ashby’s Democratic Party as an Elector at state conventions, was a Lector at St. Camillus Catholic Church, Fitchburg, for more than 20 years, and was a docent for Boston by Foot for more than a decade. In 2000, Colin and Kathy built a retirement “bungalow” in Creggan, where they spent half of every year living in the rural countryside, reconnecting with friends from Colin’s youth, exploring their Irish routes, and establishing new family connections, community, and traditions. Colin is survived by four children and seven grandsons: Neal and his wife Kristen of Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and their sons Liam, Aidan, and Eoin; Mary-Kate of Ashby; CJ and his wife Karen of Merrimack, NH, and their sons Reginald, Christopher, Benjamin, and Nicholas; Drew and his wife Kristin of Stoughton, MA; his sister Janet and her husband Albert Kirkwood of Bangor, Northern Ireland, and numerous relatives and extended family worldwide. Colin was pre-deceased by his wife Kathy (2007), and his twin Gerard (2023). In place of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Colin Bourn ‘63 English Scholarship Fund. Mail checks to Fitchburg State University Foundation, 160 Pearl St., Fitchburg, MA 01420, and note “Colin Bourn ’63” in the memo line; or donate online at https://alumni.fitchburgstate.edu/g/general-giving/. Type “Colin” in the search bar and select the fund. Calling hours are Monday, September 16th, from 4 to 7 PM, at Anderson Funeral Home, 250 Main St, Townsend, MA, 01469. The Funeral Mass will be at 10 AM, September 17th at St. John the Evangelist, 1 School St, Townsend, followed by interment at Glenwood Cemetery, 763 Main St, Ashby, MA 01431

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Colin E. Bourn

October 5, 1937 - August 29, 2024