George E. Tully

George E. Tully, born in Dunstable, MA, on October 1, 1918, passed away at the age of 96 on May 10, 2015, surrounded by his family and close friends. He joins his beloved wife of 70 years June (Lund) Tully, whom he married in May 1938 in Hollis, NH. He held Dunstable's Boston Post Cane since 2014.
George was the son of Charles E. and Bertha (Wright) Tully of Dunstable. One of eleven children, he was educated at the Union School and Lowell High School graduating in the class of 1936. George left class early to run the family farm at the early age of 18 years, and resided in the house in which he was born his entire life.

Throughout his life, George had four major loves; his family, his farm, the Town of Dunstable, and the Dunstable Rural Land Trust; all of which he nurtured until his passing. Less than two days before his passing, he was on the tractor and plowed his last cornfield.

George and June together raised their seven children, while running the family farm. He served the Town of Dunstable for over 40 years in multiple roles including; Selectman, member of Board of Health, member of the Zoning and Planning boards, member of the Swallow Elementary Building Committee as well as Town Moderator.

George enjoyed watching his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren attend the family functions from Santa's visit to his annual birthday parties. He looked forward to welcoming each child born into the family. It meant a lot to George to have his family close by sharing his property with his children and grandchildren so they could build their own family homes, mostly in the area of the farm.

George and his wife were active in the Dunstable Grange #31 serving as Past Master of both the Dunstable and Middlesex North Pomona Granges and Past Deputy of the Massachusetts State Grange, totaling over 80 years of Grange membership. George was a long-time member of the Middlesex County Farm Bureau and received the John Ogonowski Award for Leadership and Dedication. He was instrumental in the formation of the Farmer's Live Animal Market Exchange (FLAME) in Littleton, MA in 1967.

In 1974, George co-founded the Dunstable Civic Trust, the predecessor of the Dunstable Rural Land Trust. In addition to organizing and promoting the Land Trust, George was a substantial contributor in terms of time, expertise, and funding. At the time of his wife June's death in 2008, George contributed 100 acres of land to fulfill their mutual desire to protect the agricultural character of the Town of Dunstable.

George is survived by six of his seven children; Ruth (Robinson), wife of the late Charles W. Tully, David and his wife Mabel (Gath), Virginia Holt and her husband Richard, George, Jr. and his wife Susan (Wallwork), Linda Chase and her husband Calvin and Kenneth and his wife Denise (Lonhes), all of Dunstable, and William H. Tully of Billerica. George is also survived by twenty-two grandchildren, fifty-three great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews. George is also survived by his sister, Ruth Choate and her husband Fred of Tyngsboro. He was also predeceased by 9 siblings.