Robert “Bob” Francis Xavier Hart

LINCOLN, Mass. – Robert “Bob” Francis Xavier Hart passed away on May 8, 2024. He was 85 years old.

Bob was a proud son of Lowell, Mass. where he was born to John and Agnes Hart and attended St Patrick’s School and Keith Academy.

Bob was a Boston College triple Eagle, graduating in 1960, and later receiving master’s in Social Work and Theology. He was a passionate member of the BC Community his entire life, receiving a BC Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service in 2005 and starting an alumni service trip to Mustard Seed in Kingston Jamaica in 2008.

While at the BC School of Social Work, Bob met his beloved wife, Alice (Noonan) of 61 years and they began their life together in Amarillo, Texas, where he served in the U.S. Air Force. Bob then began a 25-year career with the United Way in New Haven, Conn., and later as executive director in Portland, and Providence, R.I. He then became Executive Director of Family Counseling and Guidance centers in Boston, Mass. and President of the American Humane Association in Denver, Colo.

He was a man of deep faith, and after surviving a battle with melanoma Bob “retired” and became an interfaith chaplain at Tufts Medical Center and a tour guide at the JFK Presidential Library, work that enabled him to continue to live out his lifelong commitment to service to others and making the world a better place.

Ever the adventurer, Bob had a deep curiosity and thirst for new people and places and lived by the motto “see the world before you leave it” traveling extensively around the U.S. and overseas.

He was so proud of his grandchildren, Alice and Xavier Hart, and daughter-in-law, Sara Hart, and happiest when surrounded by family and friends, preferably on a beach, a boat or in his garden. He spent lots of time on his sailboat cruising the Casco Bay islands off of Portland, picking up driftwood with his son, Robert, walking the marginal way or floating with the tide on the river in Ogunquit.

Visitation will take place on Tuesday, May 14 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Chapman Funerals and Cremations, 584 West Falmouth Highway, West Falmouth, Mass. A Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, May 15, at 11 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 481 Quaker Rd., North Falmouth, Mass. Burial will follow at North Falmouth Cemetery.

For online guestbook visit http://www.chapmanfuneral.com.

In lieu of flowers,

donations to

Legacy Fund at

Lowell Catholic,

http://www.lowellcatholic.org/legacy,

530 Stevens St.

Lowell, MA 01851; or

Jamaica Mustard Seed

BC Alumni Trip,

http://www.mustardseed.com,

29 James Ave.

Medfield, MA 02052

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