Obituary of Dr.Raymond Bosse

Dr. Raymond Bossé, died peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Renaissance Gardens at Brooksby Village on Thursday June 24, 2010. He was born in Fall River in 1929 and was the son of the late Hector and Beatrice (Lamothe) Bossé, and was one of six siblings. After attending Assumption Prep School, he matriculated at Assumption College from which he graduated Magma Cum Laude in 1952 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Romance Languages. Following his graduation, he left for Rome and attended Angelicum University from which he graduated in 1956 with a Licentiate in Theology. After accepting two short teaching assignments, in France and Spain, he returned to the United States and enrolled in Fordham University in New York, from which he received an M.A. in Sociology in 1959. Shortly thereafter he began teaching high school in upper New York State until 1967, when he returned to the Boston area to accept an appointment as Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hellenic College. In 1968 he received a grant for the National Science Foundation for a summer of study in Anthropology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Upon his return, he decided to continue his education and received a Doctorate in Sociology in 1972 from Boston University. He enjoyed a long and prolific career both as a teacher and researcher. During the 28 years he taught at Hellenic College, he rose from Assistant to full Professor, and when he retired in 1995, was granted emeritus status by vote of the college trustees. During those years he received numerous citations for excellence in teaching. In 1985 he received the Alumni Award of Teaching, and in 1988, he was given the Archbishop Lakovos Faculty Award for academic and research excellence. He also held appointments as Adjunct Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Public Health, Boston University Medical School, as well as at the School of Dental Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In addition to his teachings, Dr. Bossé was involved in active research throughout most of his career. In 1972 he joined the Veterans Administration as a research sociologist. In 1974 he was appointed as Associate Director of the Normative Aging Study, one of the largest long-term studies of aging in the United States, sponsored by the Veterans Administration. In 1992 he was named a Veterans Administration research scientist and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1999. He authored and co-authored more than 30 articles in scientific journals, one book on smoking and aging, and numerous book chapters on various aspects of the aging process. He also was invited to lecture often throughout the United States and abroad at a wide variety of academic and professional conferences. He was a member of the American Sociological Association, the American Society on Aging, an elected fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and the St. Vasilios Men’s Club. He was also a reviewer for several scholarship journals including the Journal of Gerontology, and Psychology and Aging, and served for many years on the Editorial Advisory Board of the College Press. He is survived by his wife Rose (Vasilakopoulos) Bossé whom he married in 1968, his siblings Paul Bossé of Garden Grove, CA, Hector Bossé of Pensacola, Fl, Jeanne Thiboutot of Tiverton, RI., and Therese Garrity of Fall River, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was the brother of the late Irene. His funeral will be held on Monday June 28, 2010 at 9:00 AM from the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody followed by services in St. Vasilios Church at 10:00 AM. Interment will follow in the family lot at Greenlawn Cemetery, Salem. A visitation will be held on Sunday from 4:00 until 8:00 PM to which all are invited