CONCANNON, Richard Francis, 89 of Boston passed away after a brief illness surrounded by his family. He was the son of the late T. Frank Concannon and Marjorie Murray Concannon of Quincy, MA. Dick was the husband of A. Smoki Bacon for the last 39 years. His previous marriage to Kitty Wooley ended in divorce.
Dick is survived by his two step children, Brooks Bacon of New York, NY, and Hilary Bacon Gabrieli and her husband Christopher Gabrieli of Boston, MA. Dick leaves behind five grandchildren, John, Abigail, Pauline, Lilla and Nicholas Gabrieli of Boston, MA.
The second of five children, Dick is survived by two sisters, Geraldine Evans of Ledyard, CT and Joanne Fallon of Hull, MA and many nephews, nieces, great-nephews, and great-nieces.
Born in Quincy, MA on the eve of the Great Depression, Dick graduated from Boston English High School in 1947. He then attended Harvard University, where he was an History major and a member of the Harvard Swim Team his freshman year. He paid for his college tuition, then $450 a year (including room and board), by working as a waiter in Cazenovia, NY, a lifeguard at the Hingham Yacht Club during the summers, and a participant in various medical experiments conducted through Harvard Student Agency. He served as a Sergeant in the army during the Korean War from 1952 to 1954. While in service, he was awarded a purple heart. In Korea, he helped found and later taught at schools for other army personnel and local youth. After his service, he worked in sales for both Commercial Metal and Neiman Marcus in Dallas, TX. He subsequently worked for Cushman and Wakefield Real Estate in New York, NY, and Eagan Real Estate in Syracuse, NY.
At his 25th Harvard Reunion, he met his future wife, Smoki Bacon, who was attending as the widow of one of his classmates. It was love at first sight. They had an exciting and loving marriage over the next four decades. Together, they founded Bacon Concannon Associates Public Relations, through which they served clients who contributed to increasing the quality of life in Boston. During this time, they ran the Boston 350 Party, at which 6,000 Bostonians from different communities celebrated Boston’s 350th birthday. They also organized the very first Boston Promenade, where Bostonians donned turn-of-the-century attire and promenaded around the Boston Public Gardens. Other clients included the Boston Tea Party Ship, the Boston Theatre Association, the Boston Philharmonic, and the International Institute. Subsequently, they ran Tunnel Radio and the Literati Scene on cable television. For their shows, they interviewed local and international authors, including Cleveland Amory, Max Kennedy, Pierre Salinger, Gay Talese, and Rick Riordan.
Dick’s passions in life were his wife, his family, travel, golf, books, the Red Sox, and the New England Patriots. His knowledge of history and current events never ceased to amaze his grandchildren. Despite many attempts, he was never able to pass along his love of golf to his grandchildren, but he did pass on his love of poker to his grandsons and regularly enjoyed playing football with many of his grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Boston Landmarks Orchestra landmarksorchestra.org/donate/donate-now/ 617-987-2000 or Public Action for the Arts & Education PublicAction.org (617) 744-0615. A private family ceremony will be held and a Memorial Service will be held in the fall at Harvard Memorial Chapel in Cambridge.
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