Dennis F. Finn

Sturbridge - Dennis Francis Finn, of Sturbridge, born March 1,1946, died of a heart attack on January 28, 2022, while on a plane to Florida with his brother Joe. He always said that "Florida is where old people go to die", so dying midair may have been a final act of tenacity, as he was closer to heaven than to Florida when he passed.



After a promising high school football career, he graduated from Stonehill College where he and his friend, Airforce fighter pilot Billy Driscoll, had a spirited college journey, the full details of which will probably never be public. With his hard-won degree in business in hand, he went on to ride motorcycles and travel all over the world. He had many adventures, including breeding horses, and swimming out to islands off the coast of Fiji where he drank kava with natives. His world changed in 1976 when he met Molly McGuire at the Eliot Lounge in Boston. They fell in love and were married in 1978 and had two beautiful children Sheila Margaret and Dennis Patrick.



While raising their children, Dennis started his career selling web printing presses, with the companies Didde, Harris Graphics, and Kimori. He was an imaginative father and started the Finn Family Scare War (1987-1992), a lively competition of who can scare who most, and although Molly never participated in it, she did force it's ending by dropping a full stack of plates in the pantry, breaking them all.



He was always ready for an adventure and didn't let signage (Private Property or Speed Limit) stop him from a good time. His great strength was connecting with people, and always had a joke or an impression on hand. Big hearted, he thought of others before himself. If he said he would pick you up, he was early, and might even sneak up on you. If there was anyone in need of help, he did so without question.



For years he worked in prison ministry with his buddy Bob McTiernan, sharing the Bible and his Catholic faith. Dennis was a parishioner at Saint Paul the Apostle Church in Warren.



He is survived by his wife, Molly Finn; his daughter, Sheila Margaret; his son, Dennis Patrick; his daughter-in-law, Patricia; his grandson, Dennis Joseph; his brothers, Joseph Frances Sr. and Paul Finn; his sisters, Susan Brita and Kathy DiTrapano as well as many nieces and nephews whom he loved.



A Funeral Mass for Dennis will be held on Friday, February 11, 2022 at 10AM at St. Paul's Church, 1082 Main Street in Warren. Calling hours will be held Thursday, February 10, 2022 from 4 to 6PM in Varnum Funeral Home, Inc. 43 East Main Street in West Brookfield. Burial will be in St. Anne's Cemetery in Sturbridge following mass.



Indeed, for your faithful Lord, life is changed not ended and when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven. {Roman Missal. Preface I for the dead}