Linda (DeSavage) Masterson

Linda Masterson of West Boylston, a long-time Worcester resident and former admissions officer for Worcester State University died on June 13th at age 76. She was surrounded by family and friends who will miss her terribly.

Linda was diagnosed in February with brain cancer. Her family is eternally grateful for what became an outpouring of non-stop care and support from her many communities of friends, who brought her favorite foods and made her laugh and feel loved.

Linda DeSavage was born in Worcester in 1948 and grew up in the city’s Cambridge Street neighborhood. She graduated from Sacred Heart Academy and Worcester State University. In 1978, she married long-time Worcester State University professor and basketball coach, Felix “Buddy” Masterson.

They raised their combined family of Hennessys and Mastersons on June Street in Worcester and invested in what would become a booming restaurant in Delray Beach, Florida, called Boston’s on the Beach. At Boston’s, they hosted Saint Patrick’s Day parades and other annual events that brought their friends, family, and neighbors down from Worcester. It soon became a home-away-from-home for many, and included a lively and competitive golf group that played at a nearby course in what they called the Worcester Golf League of Boynton Beach. For the last twenty years, Linda split her time between residences in Boynton Beach and West Boylston.

After Buddy passed away in 1999, Linda, at age 51, said no one could replace “the love of her life.” She established Worcester State University’s Felix E. “Buddy” Masterson Memorial Scholarship in his honor. For the next 25 years, until her death, she invested in her friends and family—including what became 14 grandchildren whose birthdays, communions, graduations, ball games and dance recitals she rarely missed. When she began golfing, she joined the Mavens of Green Hill golf league that later became the Divine Women’s Group. She was a member of Worcester Country Club from 2007-2017 where she served as the Ladies Golf League Committee Chair. She presided as Co-Chair of the Lori Lajoie Charity Golf Tournament.

Her many friends have said that Linda was the magnet that brought them together and the catalyst for making so many people, especially those who lost their spouses, feel vital and supported. “She could have run for president, she was so loved,” her friend Barbara Dunn said of their winter community at High Point Boynton Beach.

She was active in the Worcester State Alumni Association, the Ryan Quinn Memorial Golf Tournament, and the local Democratic Party. Within her friend groups, she organized many celebrations to mark birthdays and other milestones. And she cared for and sat with loved ones as they succumbed to terminal illnesses, including her husband Buddy, best friend Rita Turo, and beloved son James Hennessy. That love and support was returned to Linda in spades in her final days.

Linda is survived by six children and their spouses, Robin Hennessy and husband James Fiala, Jodi Brunelle and husband David, Joanne Krause and husband Paul, Anita Masterson and husband Carlton Watson, Karen Masterson and husband Tom Wang, and Donald Masterson and wife Elaine; daughter-in-law Allison Hennessy; 14 grandchildren; sister Joyce Turco and husband Paul; sister-in-law Joan McTeigue; and her nephews, niece, and extended friends and family.

Calling hours will be held at Athy Memorial Home at 111 Lancaster St., Worcester on Sunday, June 16th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint John’s Catholic Church at 40 Temple St., Worcester on Monday, June 17th at 10:00 am. A private burial will follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Linda’s memory to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).