ANASTASIA LUNDQUIST

LUNDQUIST, Anastasia (Kirby) Passed away on November 3, 2016 at home in Auburndale, Massachusetts. She was 102. Mrs. Lundquist was the wife of Henry Walter Lundquist, who passed away in 2003. She was the daughter of Charles Francis Kirby and Lilian Lyons Kirby of Harwich Center, Mass. Her brother, Charles F. Kirby, Jr., of Liberty Lake, Wash., passed away in 2010. She was a long time resident of Auburndale and Harwich Center, Mass. Mrs. Lundquist attended Cambridge High and Latin School, graduating with the class of 1931. She received her bachelor's degree from Emmanuel College in Boston, as a member of the class of 1935. She was a dedicated supporter of the college and an active alumnus. She received a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa in 2005 from Emmanuel. She owned the Pro Parvulis Book Store in Boston, lectured on books, and served as Book Fair radio editor. A collection of character sketches, which she wrote for her own performances, was featured on radio, television, and stage. Her Christmas book for children, A Dream of Christmas Eve, published in 1937 and reissued for a fiftieth anniversary in 1987, is still sought by new generations. During World War II, she became the Associate Director of the Wartime Red Cross Blood Donor Service in Boston, Mass., where she coordinated operations and worked tirelessly to encourage donors to give blood for the men on the fighting fronts in Europe and the Pacific. Because of her work in radio, she co-produced a weekly live radio broadcast called Life to the Front on WEEI, the CBS network station for New England. Her co-producer, Lt. Henry Lundquist, was the blood donor coordinator and radio officer in the public information office of the First Naval District. They were married in 1944. Life to the Front won a prestigious Peabody award for distinguished and meritorious public service in broadcasting. In 2014, Mrs. Lundquist published Out for Blood - The pursuit of life for the wounded on the fighting fronts of World War II, based on Life to the Front broadcasts and her experiences with both the blood donors and the survivors whom she interviewed on her broadcasts. Mrs. Lundquist was active in the Corpus Christi Parish Guild and the Auburndale Community Association. She was editor of A Newton Sampler for the 1973 bicentennial of the City of Newton, Massachusetts, and wrote The Chapel Speaks for the restoration of Emmanuel College's historic chapel. Mrs. Lundquist is survived by her three children, Capt. Carl I. Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Ret.) and wife Nancy Lundquist of Summerville, S.C.; Marilyn Lundquist Anderson, a musician, artist and educator of New York City and Mount Tremper, N.Y., and husband Stephen; and Capt. Edward H. Lundquist, U.S. Navy (Ret.), and his wife Laura, of Springfield, Va. Her grandchildren include Sarah Lundquist Norton of Mount Pleasant, S.C.; Lucas Anderson of New York, N.Y.; and Thomas and Barbara Lundquist of Springfield, Va. Visitation will be held Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the family home at 33 Hancock St., Auburndale. A funeral Mass will be held Thursday, Nov. 10, at 10:00 a.m. at the Emmanuel College Chapel, 400 The Fenway , Boston, Massachusetts. Interment will be at St. George's Cemetery in Framingham.

Burke & Blackington Funeral Home

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