Keohane Funeral Home

Franklyn Thatcher Lord, Jr., 91, known as Bill to his family and many friends, died peacefully on December 18, 2013, with his four children by his side.

Bill was born on August 17, 1922, in New London, Connecticut, to Franklyn Thatcher Lord Sr. and Gladys Preston Lord. He was predeceased by an older sister, Helena Lord Vaughn, and younger brother, George Preston Lord.

After graduating from the Mount Herman School, Bill attended Mitchell College in New London before being drafted into the US Army Ground Forces in December 1942. He began training with a tank unit, quickly passed the exam for flight school, and transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces in May 1943, being commissioned as an officer and earning his wings. By late 1944, Bill Lord, now a B17-G pilot, was assigned to the Eighth Air Force, 1st Air Division, 40th Combat Bombardment Wing, 306th Bomb Group near the town of Thurleigh.

The 1st Air Division’s assignment was to fly daytime bombing missions over Germany in an attempt to cripple Nazi industry. Bill flew thirty-one missions, totaling 238 combat hours, bombing numerous military and industrial targets including Berlin. While on a mission to Cologne, he was shot down and crash landed in France close to enemy lines with no casualties and returned to duty the following day. During one period in Spring 1945, he and his flight crew flew seven nine-hour combat missions in a ten-day period. He flew his last mission on April 19, 1945, nineteen days before V-E Day, and was discharged that summer with the rank of Captain, USAAF. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with four oak-leaf clusters, the European Theater Ribbon with 3 battle stars, and the Presidential Unit Citation. When he returned from the war, Bill attended Wesleyan University on the GI bill, graduating in 1948. While there, he courted and married his sweetheart from summers at Groton Long Point, Barbara “Bobbie” Bailey, on September 7, 1946 at a ceremony in Waterbury, Connecticut. Bobbie and Bill made their home in Hingham, Massachusetts from 1951 to 2012, where they raised four children: Deborah Lord Riley of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; Melinda Lord Martin of Kensington, Connecticut; Thatcher Bailey Lord of St. John, USVI; and Sandra Monroe Lord of Burlington, Vermont. For the whole of their sixty-six years of marriage, Bobbie and Bill demonstrated what it was to truly love one’s spouse, setting a model of love and devotion that rippled throughout the community and the family they nurtured into being. Bill was considered a second father to many of his own children’s friends, and the home they created was always open and welcoming to all. The ocean was Bill’s second love, having grown up in a house on the beach in New London and being in and around boats from a young age. Both sailing and working on boats was a favorite pastime, and he continued this consistently throughout his life. He loved sailing with family and friends during summers in Maine and Cape Cod and was at peace simply being close to the sea. For the past sixty-two years, Bill and Bobbie have been members of the Hingham Yacht Club. Bill worked for the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut as district sales manager for the Closure Division for the northeast region. His outgoing nature and genuine interest in people served him well; many of his customers became lifelong friends.

Bill was the patriarch of a large, close-knit, and growing family, including his four children and their spouses (Debbie and Bill, Lindy and Jamie, Thatcher and Vicki, and Sandy), his six grandsons: Christopher L. Riley, Timothy C. Riley, Jonathan L. Riley, Nathaniel L. Martin, Thatcher W. Martin, and Alexander B. Martin, and eight great grandchildren. All who knew Bill will recall that he was a fun-loving man with a twinkle in his eye and a sincere interest in people. He has been characterized as being an elegant, ‘old school’ gentle man. He always had multiple projects going at the same time, whether at his home or on his boats. He had a profound interest and deep love of his extended family, enjoying every accomplishment, every joy and feeling every sorrow. He especially loved the happy chaos of Christmas, the Fourth of July parade that we all watched from the end of their driveway, and family celebrations when all the generations gathered together in Hingham. The family would like to extend our deep appreciation to the staff at Sunrise Assisted Living Facility of Cohasset and the Hospice of South Shore Hospital for their unending kindness and support in caring for our father and for our family during this difficult time.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 4 at 11:00 am at the Old Ship Church at 90 Main Street in downtown Hingham. A reception will follow at the Atlantica Restaurant on Cohasset harbor. 

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be sent to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 9 Erie Drive, Natick, MA. 01760.