Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Ancestors of Frederick Stuart Atkinson

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Ancestors of Frederick Stuart Atkinson

Generation No. 2

      2. Frederick McIntosh Atkinson, born Oct 21, 1916 in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, Canada; died Jan 09, 1987 in Scituate, Massachusetts. He was the son of 4. Edward Samuel Atkinson and 5. Francis May Fleury. He married 3. Elaine McKinnon Sep 02, 1943 in Boston, Massachusetts.

      3. Elaine McKinnon¹, born Jun 30, 1911 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; died Aug 31, 2000 in Weymouth, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of 6. Raymond Alexander McKinnon and 7. Mary Augusta Stuart.

Notes for Frederick McIntosh Atkinson:
Biography of Frederick McIntosh Atkinson (Uncle Fred). Written by his son, Rick Atkinson in June 2002
Dad weighed over 13 pounds at birth, one of the largest babies born in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was an only child. Nana doted on him - Dad could do nothing wrong!
In his youth, Dad told me that he had "some troubled times" in Belmont High School. He was "a handful" according Nana. Dad attended but did not graduate from Belmont High - In later years he told us that was asked to leave! For someone without a high school diploma, he was exceptionally bright and industrious.
In the 1930's, my grandfather Ed Atkinson played the banjo with my Dad on the fiddle playing Down East music at local dance halls and the French Club in Waltham. I have since learned that this club was a favorite of my wife Paula's father and family in the 30s and they must have known my dad.
Dad was still a Canadian citizen when he was drafted in 1939 into the US Army. His discharge date was supposed to be Dec. 11, 1941. A little incident at Pearl Harbor got in the way of this discharge date. Dad said he had been just been busted to buck private in Dec 1941 but by Jan 1942 he had been promoted to sergeant.
Dad finally got out of the Army in1946 and always hated the color Olive drab or green.
During the war he worked in the Secret Service in a branch of the OSS with "Wild Bill" Donavan (Pre CIA) and was fortunate enough to never leave the US during the War (one of few men in the 26 th Yankee Division to stay state side). Ironically I was in the 26 th Yankee division during my National Guard days! Dad told stories about coast watching from Ipswich to Cape Cod, the capture of the German U boat saboteurs that landed on Cape but didn't talk much about the other secret service work.
Among other places, he was stationed at Camp Devans in Massachusetts, Camp Edwards on Cape Cod, and other New England Bases and in Washington DC at the Pentagon. During the coast watch he discovered Brant Rock (he was stationed there at the tower).
His permanent rank was Master Sergeant but at times Mom said that he wore Officers uniforms and other service uniforms doing secret service work.
Dad, Mom and my 3 brothers lived with his parents Ed and Frances Atkinson at 7 Maple Terrace, Belmont until 1951 when Mom and Dad bought our 24 Pine Street, Belmont home and the Brant Rock house and barn in 1952.
Dad was always working on all houses, turning the basement at Pine Street into a great family room and Brant Rock from an open cottage and barn to their retirement home.
He had master plumbers, master gas fitters, and electrician licenses and could do carpentry and masonry work.
Dad started and failed at several businesses after the war (Suburban Shade and Suburban Sanitary are a few of the business cards I remember) before finally succeeding in Suburban Tank Company.
He eventually had 5-6 trucks (always yellow and black his favorite colors) and 10+ employees installing, repairing and removing oil tanks. My grandfather Ed Atkinson always worked for Dad in these business.
Dad was very handsome, muscular and strong on a just right 6 foot frame with gray hair (he always had a crew cut) and blue eyes.
Mom and Dad cut quite a swath walking Brant Rock beach - they were beautiful and looked like models!
Dad sold the business and some property and at age 50 in 1967 he retired with Mom to Brant Rock.
Dad went back to work a few years later at Raytheon where he was badly injured tearing his kneecap off. As a result he walked with a limp for the rest of his life.
Dad always seemed to have some kind of a boat and lobster traps at Brant Rock, anything from 16 ft speedboat to a 44-foot lobster boat.
At about 55 years of age, he started "working full time as a lobster man" out of Green Harbor, hauling several hundred lobster traps.
All of his lobster boats (he had at least 3 from 32-44 ft) were named the "Four Sons".
He often said that he was the luckiest man at the Green Harbor Marina having my Mom to support him as a lobster man. He never really made any money at lobstering but we had some spectacular lobster feeds!. Mom once asked him what he loved most his boat or her and Dad had to pause to answer!
For about 5 winters, Mom and Dad wintered in the Ft Lauderdale, Florida area, filling the Econoline Van with "treasures" from Elaine's Consignment Shop, setting up and selling at Florida flea markets.
As surprise on their wedding anniversary Sept 2, 1986, Dad arranged for his 4 sons to get a priest to the house and remarried my mother Elaine as a surprise (they had never married in a church).
His best friend was his brother in law Ronald McKinnon.
It was well known that his drink of choice was Old Thompson.
Dad was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease in 1985 and spent the last 2 years house bound on oxygen.
He never complained about his illness.
I took him on his last ride on his boat in the spring of 1986.
Dad insisted on going into a nursing home right after Thanksgiving in1986 and died Jan 09, 1987.

More About Frederick McIntosh Atkinson:
Burial: Jan 12, 1987, Marshfield Center Cemetary, Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
Cause of Death: Pneunomonisis (rare Lung Disease)
Military service: Bet. 1939 - 1946, US Army Master Sargent

Notes for Elaine McKinnon:
Biography of Elaine Atkinson (Aunt Elaine). Written by her son, Rick Atkinson in April 2007
Among other things, Elaine worked as a sales girl and model at Filenes during the depression (she was a petite 5' 3" and had a knock out figure). She also worked as a bookkeeper at various businesses including A&P. Mom commented that only the McKinnon girls could find work during the Depression.
She always worked for my Dad doing the books and taxes for his business. She was exceptionally sharp with figures and used a type of adding machine/calculator called a comptometer.
Mom was the frugal one, always saving money, investing and buying property. In addition to owning our home at 24 Pine St. Belmont they owned the Beach house and barn "The Sea Breeze" at 7 South Street, and 2 other houses in Brant Rock, Marshfield, Massachusetts, the "Jackson" on South St. and 252 Ocean St.
Mom and Dad were full of fun; they loved to laugh and were always having parties in Belmont and Brant Rock. At the Brant Rock Houses we had as many as 15 first cousins staying over at one time, sometimes for several weeks and sometimes for the entire summer. The Brant Rock cottage was originally a summer cottage and a barn and did not have an address, only names. My first cousins Ronnie, Mary, George and Edna McKinnon, Patsy and Kathleen Conroy, John and Charlie McKinnon and Babe Sullivan were "semi permanent" summer residents. It seemed that they stayed most of the summer. Mom said that she must have been insane to have all the cousins stay at one time. It was a special treat to have anyone of the gang of kids that I grew up with be named an "honorary cousin".
I really don't know how she fed us all. We were given pretty free reign on what we did, (we got in some minor trouble like trying to set the Rock itself on fire and one time we tried painting the Rock pink) but in general we spent a wonderful youth in Brant Rock. The most important thing about Brant Rock is that I met my wife Paula there June 30, 1956 one early evening walking on the beach.
My cousin Charlie McKinnon bought the Brant Rock house in 2001 after my mother passed. It is great to sill have it in the family. He added a plaque with the Sea Breeze name. My Brothers Rod and Rock helped him "undo and update" much of Dads remodeling.
Mom loved to gamble, any kind of cards, bingo, craps, slots, horses, lottery, scratch tickets, numbers game etc., and she was good at it. She said that the McKinnon's got the gambling bug from Grammy McKinnon who loved to go to play the ponies and play the numbers! Into his 90's Pa McKinnon would take the subway to Suffolk Downs and after that racetrack closed for the day, he would take the bus to Rockingham NH.
In the 1970's Mom bought a property at 252 Ocean Street, Brant Rock that had an attached building. My brother Randy and his wife Kathy moved in to the house and had a very large and successful yard sale. Mom had a dream and got an idea and opened Elaine's Consignment Shop (she had a small plaque that read,"I buy junk and sell antiques"). She would go to an auction in the Medfield/Medway area on Wednesday to re-stock the store, which was open spring, summer and fall from 10 to whenever on Thus, Fri, Sat and sometimes Sun. She not only had a ball doing this, she actually made money (and it's a good thing because she had to support my Dad's lobster business which never seemed to make any money - but we had some spectacular lobster feeds). As far as the shop goes, I never saw anything that I wanted to steal. Mom closed the shop and sold the house when Dad got sick.
When Mom was in her 70's, she developed osteoporosis, and due to brittle bones had numerous spinal fractures, broke her shoulders (one shoulder twice), and broke other bones.
She developed colon cancer in 1998, which was successfully operated on, but the cancer came came back in 2000 and she died from operation complications and sepsis.
I provided care for her at hospital in her final days and though some call it "rapture" I watched and talked to her when she saw all her relatives in Heaven. Mom actually sat up and had the most beautiful expression on her face and looked at me and said, "What's the matter Rick - Don't you recognize your own brother?" "they are all here" I really tried but couldn't see them but asked about different individuals and then asked if dad was there - mom said, "Not right now - he is out on the boat." Given that experience, I KNOW there is Heaven - mom saw it!
Pall bearers at her funeral were her grandchildren Laura, Shae, Sean, Sherry, Christine and Jennifer Atkinson and Woody Blaisdell.
Mom was a devout Catholic all her life. Mom and dad "finally got married in the church" - they were originally married by a JP during the war. This was a surprise anniversary gift from my dad. He had the brothers contact a priest and the priest married them a Catholic ceremony Sept 2, 1981, their anniversary, just a couple of months before my dad died.

More About Elaine McKinnon:
Burial: Sep 02, 2000, Marshfield Center Cemetary, Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
Cause of Death: Colin Cancer, Sepsis
Medical Information: Osteoperousis, Colin Cancer

Children of Frederick Atkinson and Elaine McKinnon are:

1	i.	Frederick Stuart Atkinson, born Private; married Paula Marie Benoit Private.
	ii.	Roderick Charles Atkinson, born Private; married Una Bradley Private; born Private.
	iii.	Edward Francis Atkinson, born Private; married Gertrude Winifred Lowder Private; born Private.
	iv.	Randall James Atkinson, born Jan 17, 1950 in Cambridge Massachusetts; died May 30, 1996 in Scituate, Massachusetts; married Kathy Blaisdell Private; born Private.

Notes for Randall James Atkinson:
Randall James (Randy) Atkinson. Written by his Brother Rick Atkinson June 2002
Randy was a brilliant student with a 150 + IQ and he was without a doubt the smartest Atkinson brother.
It is well known that Randy liked to party and he partied hard all of his life.
After making deans list at Northeastern University, he "dropped out" and went to Haight Ashberry during the summer of love in 1969 and didn't come back for over 2 years.
Randy was an avid reader and was knowledgeable on many subjects.
Randy decided to follow in the footsteps of the Atkinson's and McKinnon's as a tradesman and was an excellent carpenter, roofer and builder.
He had the bluest eyes and was one of the strongest people I ever knew, a gentle giant on a 6' 2" frame, all muscles and brains.
He was exceptionally generous to family and friends and everyone that met him liked him.
He was married for several years and then divorced but kept in close contact with Woody Blaisdel who he raised like a son.
Woody always called my Mom Grammy and was a pallbearer at Randy's funeral.
For the last few years of his life Randy lived with Mom after Dad died.
My brothers Rod, Rock and I provided Hospice care for Randy in the last few months of his illness at Moms house in Brant Rock.
Randy died of leomyasarcoma (a cancer of the muscles and bones - only 8 cases have ever been reported in the world).
I still cry when I think of him dieing so young at age 46.

More About Randall James Atkinson:
Baptism: St Lukes, Belmont, Massachusetts
Burial: Jun 07, 1996, Marshfield Center Cemetary, Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
Cause of Death: leomyasarcoma (a cancer of the muscles and bones)
Cremation: Jun 02, 1996, Ashes in Fathers and Mothers grave in Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
Medical Information: Randy died of leomyasarcoma (a cancer of the muscles and bones - only 8 cases have ever been reported in the world)
Nickname: Randy

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