Gathering at Westford Academy Ends a Week of Mourning
By Joyce Pellino Crane
WESTFORD, Mass. – The bright smile was evident in every photo displayed on the oversized screen at an afternoon vigil memorializing Olivia Marchand, 17, who, police say, was the tragic victim of domestic violence.
Westford Academy students honored Marchand’s memory one final time, this afternoon, with a five-minute photo essay depicting their classmate from her elementary school days through her senior year—an effervescent girl surrounded by friends or nuzzling her horse Lola.
The assembly inside the school’s 850-seat Performing Arts Center drew so many mourners that it spilled over into a gymnasium.
Police say Marchand was shot with a 9 mm handgun by her father, Brian Marchand, 59, who also critically wounded his wife, Jody, 50, and then killed himself with a gunshot.
Community Gathers to Memorialize Olivia Marchand, 17, Domestic Violence Victim
Mass Memorializes Olivia Marchand, 17, Fatally Shot by her Father, Police Say
by Joyce Pellino Crane
WESTFORD, Mass. – A high school senior beseeched the community to “Live for Liv,” this morning, inside an overflowing church where her fellow classmates, their families, and friends gathered to memorialize a student who died violently this week.
The early morning Mass at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church brought together a community seeking solace over the death of a popular high school senior and the critical wounding of her mother who, police say, were shot Monday by the student’s father, before he turned the gun on himself.
Olivia Marchand, 17, died at her Makepeace Road home from a 9 mm gunshot wound. Her mother, Jody Marchand, 50, was med-flighted to the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester where a hospital representative, today, said he had “no information on that patient.”
Brian Marchand, 59, Olivia’s father and Jody’s husband, died at the scene, according to Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.
This 29-year-old man acquired over one million followers on Twitter just by posting comments made by his 74-year-old father. You’ll laugh your head off, I guarantee.
WESTFORD, MASS. – The day after a Westford Academy student was fatally shot by her father with a 9 mm. handgun, according to police, dozens of students gathered inside the public high school’s auditorium to handwrite their sorrow on rolls of paper stretched across the stage.
About 70 seniors gathered this afternoon to grieve collectively for Olivia Marchand, a popular high school senior who was planning to attend the University of Vermont in the fall as a freshman.
Instead she was found dead at 8:37 p.m. yesterday inside her parent’s master bedroom on Makepeace Road from a gunshot wound, the victim of a murder-suicide, according to Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone. Leone said her father, Brian Marchand, 59 shot and killed his 17-year-old daughter, and shot his wife, Jody Marchand, 50, who was med-flighted to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester where she remains in critical condition.
Serene Community Again Rocked by Apparent Violence
Westford, MA – Two people in a Makepeace Road home died tonight and a third was airlifted to the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, according to Westford Police Captain Joseph Roy. The incident occurred at 8:37 p.m. Roy did not identify the victims pending notification of next of kin and would not specify a cause of death.
Regional broadcast media reported that the fatalities were due to gunshot wounds.
The incident remains under investigation, Roy said.
Until recently, violent crimes in this pastoral community were rare. But on January 9, Frederick Leduc of Forge Village Road allegedly shot his wife Karen and sustained a gunshot wound under his chin. Karen Leduc died a few days later and Leduc was charged with first degree murder while recuperating at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Martha Coakley’s stunning upset to Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race tonight is not about dissatisfaction with the economy and the Obama Administration. It’s about a talented but bland candidate who stacked up less favorably in comparison to her charismatic male opponent.
Whether you’re the engaging Sarah Palin or the pragmatic Hillary Clinton, if you’re a female, you’ll face vicious critics. Coakley’s regional bid didn’t generate the same level of nastiness that the two national female candidates experienced during the 2008 Presidential campaign but only because the timeline was short and took place over the Christmas holiday when many were distracted, leaving less time for scrutiny. But make no mistake, Coakley lost votes because of her gender and because we still struggle with subconscious beliefs about female roles in this country.
That combined with her cool persona cost her the election.
Just out of camera shot was the carousel clothesline I wrote about in this humorous Newsday essay. To my right: Dad, Mom, my sister, and brother (front).
The shouting matches started shortly after my family moved into the Dutch Colonial house across from the town’s public high school.
Mrs. Gibson, a widowed socialite with a butler, a poodle, and a two-toned Cadillac, had never expected to see a family of Italians next door.
But there she was in her twilight years battling the reality of a changing society. The tony New York suburb, known for its debutantes and coming out parties (this was an era when coming out wasn’t followed by “of the closet”) was being infiltrated by the nouveau riche with last names ending in vowels. Mrs. Gibson wasn’t ready for it.
They arrived with screechy station wagons, smudge-faced kids, and religious statues on the front lawn.
She upbraided. My mother retorted. The words got nasty.
