Alfred J. Carolan, Jr.

Carolan, Alfred J., Jr. of Hingham, died November 30, 2014.

Beloved husband of Kathleen (Shea) Carolan of Hingham.  Loving father of Kerry Thomson and her husband Robert of Hingham, Alfred John Carolan III and his wife Sarah of Hingham and Katherine Carolan of Hingham.  Brother of Cynthia Hurley and her husband Patrick of Cohasset, Mark Carolan of Weymouth and Ellen Carolan of Hyannis Port.  Cherished grandfather of Johnny, Kingsley and Hayes Carolan, Ryan Thomson, Will and Charlie Vanderweil all of Hingham.  Alfred is also lovingly survived by a large extended family and many close friends. He was pre-deceased by his parents Alfred and Muriel Carolan.

Alfred grew up in Quincy and attended St. John’s grammar school where he met his future wife Kathy to whom he has been married for 44 years.  They settled in Hingham where they raised their family.  He was a graduate of Boston College High School class of 1964. A true believer of Jesuit education he was a graduate of College of the Holy Cross class of 1968 and Suffolk Law School class, JD, cum laude, 1972.  At BC High he was a member of the varsity basketball team, and remained life long friends with many of his teammates.  Alfred practiced law for over 40 years before retiring in 2014. He started his career at Cabot, Cabot and Forbes in Boston, and then formed his own law firm in Boston where he practiced law with a specialty in commercial real estate, business law and litigation for over 40 years before he retired in 2014.  He was a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association.

As an active volunteer he was on the board of the St. Coletta and Cardinal Cushing Schools of Massachusetts, a member of the Presidents council at Holy Cross, a class agent for Holy Cross and a class chairman for BC High fundraising.  He was very involved in Hingham Youth sports and coached all his children in soccer, baseball, and basketball. He was affectionately known as “Coach Carolan”. He was a founding member of the Hingham Sports Partnership and was on the parish council at St. Paul’s in Hingham.

He enjoyed sports, reading, history and summers at Long Pond and Nantucket. As a grandfather, he loved to take his grandchildren out for boat rides, walks in the woods and birding at Long Pond. An avid golfer, he was a member of the Cohasset Golf Club and the Plymouth Country Club. He was also a member of the Hingham Yacht Club as well as the Chetolah Yacht Club.  He traveled extensively throughout Europe and enjoyed many family vacations to St. John where he enjoyed watching the sunset with a rum punch.  He had a wonderful sense of humor, a love of laughter and family. He will be missed by all who had the pleasure to have known him.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend the visiting hours on Wednesday 4-7 PM in the Pyne Keohane Funeral Home, 21 Emerald St. (off Central St.), HINGHAM. A Celebration of Life Service will be held in the funeral home at 9:15 AM on Thursday prior to the Funeral Mass in St. Paul’s Church, Hingham at 10 AM. Burial in St. Paul’s Cemetery, Hingham. 

We wish to acknowledge the wonderful team at Mass General Hospital who cared for Alfred J. Carolan and to support advances in Melanoma research.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Alfred may be made in support of the Mass General Hospital Cancer Center. Checks may be made out to Massachusetts General Hospital c/o Development Office, Attn: Mary McQuillen, 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 1310, Boston, MA 02114.