Shirley O'Meara

Shirley (Benoit) O’Meara, 87, passed away on February 2, 2025, at the Southern NH Medical Center in Nashua following a brief illness. Daughter of the late Lawrence and Josephine (Bacovin) Benoit, she was born at her parents’ home in Dudley, MA, on December 15, 1937. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Richard H. (“Dick”) O’Meara in 1993, as well by her younger sister, Janice Sikola, in 1985. Shirley graduated from Bartlett High School in Webster, MA. She took college courses at Clark University and Becker Junior College in Worcester, and at Franklin Pierce College in Nashua. Early in her career, Shirley was a bookkeeper. On January 23, 1960, she married her high school prom date, Dick O’Meara, from Dudley, MA. Dick graduated from Kimball Union Academy and Babson College, then served in the US Air Force. He was in Europe for the Berlin Crisis early in their marriage. He later worked for John Hancock Insurance, first as a sales agent and later in the company’s marketing department in Boston. They moved to a ranch-style home at 13 Bond Street in Hudson in 1963, which Shirley made her home for nearly 60 years. Shirley was a homemaker during the 1960s and 1970s. A big highlight of this period was the O’Meara family’s 7-week cross-country camping trip during the bicentennial summer of 1976. With both her parents and all four sons along for the ride, she and Dick traversed the United States in a Chevy Suburban, pulling a pop-up tent camper, to see the country and its national parks en route to visiting her sister and family in California. Shirley began making quilts and teaching quilting in the mid-1970s. Dick eventually built her a large quilt studio and loft as an addition to their home. She taught classes out of that studio and at the Covered Bridge Quilt Shop for 18 years. During this time, she became an active member of the Hannah Dustin Quilters Guild and traveled widely to expand her expertise in quilting. She also was a teacher for the Hillsborough County Extension Services and the Nashua Arts & Science Center. In addition to quilting, Shirley enjoyed knitting, reading, and travelling. She accompanied Dick on business trips that took her to a variety of exotic destinations from Hawaii to Morocco. Shirley was involved with the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, the GFWC Community Club in Hudson, the Red Hat Society, and aqua-aerobics classes at the YMCA in Nashua. After her husband died in 1993, Shirley took up a new passion of dealing in antiques. She attended numerous auctions, frequented estate sales, and shopped at flea markets, eventually filling her home/warehouse with antique goods of all varieties. She sold her wares in several antique booths, including at Mayfair and Needful Things in Amherst. She also taught classes and lectured on antiquing at Rivier College’s RISE program and at area clubs. She was always “on the go,” filling her car with antique treasures wherever she could find them. One of her strongest lifelong passions was the Boston Red Sox. As a child, Shirley attended a ballgame at Fenway Park with her father and obtained Ted Williams’ autograph. He was her hero! She was hooked and remained a fan of the team for eighty years! Shirley earned the distinction of being one of a very small group of fans to see the Red Sox play regular season games in four different countries: USA, Canada, Japan, and England! She saw the Sox multiple times at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, including in April 2005 to celebrate their first championship in 86 years. In 2008, she traveled with the Red Sox and her granddaughter, Bethany (then a high school senior) to Tokyo for the season-opening series and a wonderful cultural adventure. In June 2019 she traveled with her older sons, Dick and Dave, to the Red Sox-Yankees London Series, a trip that also included watching tennis at Wimbledon. She continued to visit Fenway Park at least once each season up through last season, most recently enjoying the right field roof deck wearing her yellow City Connect Red Sox shirt. She also has attended games at the Red Sox minor league parks in Portland and Worcester, and enjoyed seeing the Fisher Cats play in Manchester. In 2022, Shirley moved into an assisted living apartment at Aynsley Place that she decorated with her quilts and wall hangings. This allowed closer monitoring of her health while providing her with a new sense of community and sufficient independence to make her final years very rewarding. Shirley and Dick had four sons: Richard L. O’Meara is an attorney who lives in Portland, ME. He married Christine Bulsa and they have two daughters, Bethany and Aubrey. David J. O’Meara is a professional tennis coach. He married Sekyen Shikse in 2009. They live in Sarasota, FL. Brian T. O’Meara works as a marketing consultant. He married Brenda Veihelmann and they live in Chandler, AZ. They have three children: Braedon, Brooke, and Breanne. Marc C. O’Meara works as a nutritionist. He married Melissa Crandall and they live in Littleton, MA. They have three children: Jonathan, Madelyn, and Kaylin. Shirley is also survived by her nephews: Eric Sikola of Pacific Palisades, CA, and Jason Sikola of Palos Verdes Estates, CA. A time of visitation will be held on Wednesday, February 5th from 4pm - 6pm in the Dumont-Sullivan Funeral Home, 50 Ferry Street, Hudson, NH. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, February 6th at 10am in St. Kathryn’s Church, 4 Dracut Road, Hudson, NH. All may please meet at the church. Burial will follow in the family plot at St. Patrick Cemetery on Derry Road in Hudson. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial gifts to either the Red Sox Foundation (https://www.redsoxfoundation.org) or the Make-A-Wish Foundation (https://wish.org).

Shirley O'Meara

December 15, 1937 - February 2, 2025