Martin R. Ahearn
1918—2009

Martin R. Ahearn AHEARN, Martin R. 91, formerly of Rockport, MA, Sept. 27, 2009. Husband of Bridget Whoriskey of Ireland, father of Lawrence M. (Mary Ann) Ahearn of King of Prussia, PA, Margaret M. "Peggy" Chick (Peter J.), Patricia A. Terelak (John C.), all of Rockport, MA, brother of Mary Keating of Arlington, grandfather of Timothy O'Brien (Natalia) of Beverly, Kaetlyn O'Brien of Rockport, Jamieson Terelak (Mary) of Gloucester, Ronald Terelak of Rockport, Stephanie Mary Benenson (Clement) of NYC, John Martin Terelak of Boston, Megan Ahearn of Cambridge. Also survived by 5 great grandchildren, stepchildren Mary Nee (John), Helen Keane (Declan), Neil Whoriskey (Liz), Patrick Whoriskey, all of Ireland, Margaret Harkins (Colin), Brigid Watt (Donald), all of Scotland. Pre-deceased by wife, Mary M. (McFadden) Ahearn, brother John Ahearn and sister Catherine O'Connor. Funeral from the Burgess & Mackey Funeral Home, 201 Main St., ROCKPORT, MA on Thursday at 9:15 followed by a funeral mass in St. Joachim's Church, Broadway, Rockport, MA at 10. Visiting hours on Wednesday 4-7 pm. Relative and friends are cordially invited. Burial in Beech Grove Cemetery, Rockport. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions may be made to V.N.A. Care Network, 8 Angle St., Gloucester, MA 01930 or to Senior Care, 5 Blackburn Park, Gloucester, MA 01930. — The Boston Globe 29 September 2009

Martin Ahearn's landscapes hang in galleries and offices across the eastern United States. By J.M. Lawrence Cape Ann artist Martin R. Ahearn, whose watercolors captured the drama of Rockport seascapes and scenes of Ireland, often wore a tam o'shanter as he painted. He taught scores of artists the joys of painting watercolors en plein air and led painting tours in his father's native Ireland. "Martin was born an American, but he had the soul of an Irishman,'' said fellow Rockport artist John Terelak, who was Mr. Ahearn's son-in-law. Mr. Ahearn, who had previously made his living as a commercial artist in Boston, died of pneumonia Sunday at Seacoast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Gloucester. He was 91 and had lived in Rockport for almost 50 years. Born in Somerville, Mr. Ahearn grew up in Arlington and studied commercial art at the Vesper George School of Art in Boston. "His mother wanted him to be a priest,'' said his daughter, Margret "Peggy'' Chick, who owns the Artful Touch Gallery in Rockport, where Mr. Ahearn's paintings are sold. Mr. Ahearn, who contracted polio as a child, had a kind demeanor and always dispensed compliments along with criticism to his students, Chick said. "It could have looked like a kindergartner did it, but he would say how the tones are beautiful, and then he got down to the nitty-gritty,'' Chick said. Mr. Ahearn spent his early career working in the art department of Corey Snow, a Boston advertising agency. He also worked for The Boston Globe and General Electric. He met his first wife, Mary (McFadden), when he was a teenager in Arlington. He told his children he saw Mary walking down the street in their neighborhood, wearing a royal blue coat with a fox fur collar, and said, "That's the girl I'm going to marry.'' They were married almost 52 years and had three children. She died in 1995. Mr. Ahearn's commercial art career included drawing men's clothing for a catalog, before photography displaced the work. He had his son, Lawrence, model the clothes, so that he could accurately capture the wrinkles and shadows in the fabric. "I would model winter coats in the summer and summer clothes in the winter,'' said Lawrence, who lives in King of Prussia, Pa. Mr. Ahearn moved his family to Rockport in 1960 and began focusing on fine art. He studied under such Cape Ann artists as Carl Peters and Emille Gruppe, and his children recalled their parents discussing how to make the $90 monthly mortgage on their home in those days. The beauty of the area could stop him in his tracks. "He would always stop the car immediately when he saw a scene worth painting, regardless of who was behind us or where and when we had to be some place,'' Lawrence said, recalling many late arrivals. Seattle artist David Repyak, who grew up in Gloucester, recalled studying with Mr. Ahearn as a teenager in the 1980s. "He was quite an inspiring man and a very calm soul,'' Repyak said. "He really taught me how to see light when painting outside.'' After the death of his first wife, Mr. Ahearn traveled to Ireland to paint and soothe his grief. In 1999, at the age of 81, he married Bridget Whoriskey of Galway, the widow of his wife's first cousin. His paintings have won numerous prizes and are included in the collections of the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, the Springfield Museums, the Salmagundi Club Center for American Art in New York, AT&T, Ford Motor Co., and Prudential Insurance Co. He was a member and past president of the New England Watercolor Society and the Rockport Art Association. In addition to his wife, son, and daughter Margret, Mr. Ahearn leaves another daughter, Patricia Terelak of Rockport; four stepdaughters, Mary Nee and Helen Keane of Ireland and Margaret Harkins and Brigid Watt of Scotland; two stepsons, Neil and Patrick Whoriskey of Ireland; his sister, Mary Keating of Arlington; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today at St. Joachim's Church in Rockport. Burial will be in Beech Grove Cemetery in Rockport. — The Boston Globe 1 October 2009