THOMAS HOWARD TOWNSEND

TOWNSEND, Thomas Howard Realtor, Sailor, Bostonian, Devoted to Family Thomas Howard Townsend, age 91, died on November 18, 2025, at home on Beacon Hill, surrounded his loving family. The only child of Charles and Katharine (Howard) Townsend, Tom was married for over 60 years to Mary Frances (Friedmann) Townsend. Tom's optimistic, youthful spirit inspired friends and family to join his adventures and to seek out their own. Tom was a real Bostonian. His first months were spent on West Cedar Street on Beacon Hill, and in early 1935 he and his parents moved to Chestnut Street, where he lived for the rest of his life, with the exception of four years at Harvard College, time in the U.S. Army Reserves, and several years on Beacon Hill's North Slope. Tom followed his father in the residential real estate brokerage business, where for almost six decades he focused on Beacon Hill and Back Bay real estate, helping many interesting and talented people find their homes (and some, multiple homes). Kind, warm, and a master punster, Tom was a devoted son to his widowed mother and much beloved by his wife and three daughters. Besides his business and family, Tom's greatest interests were sailing and taking care of his property in Ipswich. As a young man Tom excelled as a one-design racer in Marblehead, later frostbiting (winter sailing) with his wife and cruising and racing on larger sailboats along the New England Coast and Cape Breton, the Bahamas and the Caribbean (on some winter holidays). Shy as a child, Tom became extroverted as he grew up, and he always loved gathering with friends and family, ideally, somewhere on or near a boat. Tom appreciated tradition and revered his ancestors, and he gave generously to causes that shared his values. Majoring in Art History at college, Tom regularly visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and later in life, he volunteered considerable time at two Boston house museums: the Nichols House Museum and the Shirley-Eustis House. While serving as president of the board for each of these, Tom worked to preserve and promote them. Joining the Union Boat Club at age 14, he was its longest serving member; he was also a member of the Harvard Club of Boston and the Manchester Yacht Club. Tom (or "Tommy" to those who knew him from his youth) is survived by his wife, Mary Fran; their children, Katharine (Andrew Hanneman), Elizabeth and Caroline; and his adored granddaughter, Eleanor Townsend-Hanneman. Tom's legacy is one of well-practiced optimism and an enduring attitude of good will toward others. He will be remembered and missed for his quick wit and quiet intuition about people, and his boundless, contagious energy. A Celebration of Tom's Life will be held on December 20, at 11:00 a.m., at the Old North Church in Boston. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Tom's memory may be made to The Pine Street Inn and/or Rosie's Place.

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