Seymour Anthony DiMare was born on May 29, 1927, to Henry and Mary DiMare. He grew up in Boston’s West End, then in East Boston, where his family lived in Orient Heights. His family later moved to Belmont. Seymour attended Boston English High School and graduated in 1944.
Seymour was awarded the Augustus Howe Buck Scholarship to attend Boston University. He loved to tell the story of how he was awarded this scholarship.
He was selling newspapers during school hours, because he had earned a day off school due to his receiving very high grades. He was in his favorite spot to sell newspapers, right outside the old State House. Mayor James Curley walked by and asked Seymour why he was not in school. Seymour explained that he had earned a day off of school for receiving high grades. Mayor Curley brought him into his office and called Seymour’s school to confirm the details. After hearing what a strong student Seymour was, Mayor Curley then called Daniel Marsh, who was the president of Boston University at that time. Mayor Curley gave Seymour money to take the trolley over to B.U. to interview with President Marsh and other faculty members. Seymour recalls being incredibly self-conscious because he was wearing a sweater with a hole in it. Seymour was awarded the Buck Scholarship, which was given “to young men of ‘positive Christian character’ who showed high academic merit and financial need.” Many years later, Seymour was pleased to be able to repay Mayor Curley for his generosity that day by caring for him as a patient when Mayor Curley was hospitalized and needed surgery.
After completing his first year at B.U., Seymour served as a pharmacist’s mate in the U.S. Maritime Service in Europe from 1945-1947. His voyages included delivering grain to Naples, Italy, and bringing donkeys to Kalamata, Greece. On one return trip, his ship brought Holocaust survivors to the U.S.
Seymour resumed his undergraduate studies at B.U. in 1947, graduating in 1949 from the College of Arts and Sciences. He then attended B.U. Medical School, earning his MD in 1952. From 1953-1955, he was the commanding officer of the 44th M.A.S.H. hospital in Munsan, Korea, returning to Boston City Hospital to complete his general surgery residency.
In 1960, he began practicing general surgery at Emerson Hospital in Concord. For the next 40 plus years, he fulfilled numerous roles at Emerson including chair of general surgery, chief of the surgical service, and president of the medical staff.
In July 1968, Seymour met Paula Hatfield on a blind date. They were married in December of 1969 in Paula’s hometown, Ipswich, Suffolk, in England. They settled at Stonymeade Farm. Seymour loved working on his farms, first Stonymeade Farm on Strawberry Hill Road in Acton, and later at Kingston Farm on Monument Street in Concord. He loved history and horseback riding and will be remembered for his annual April 19 reenactment of Dr. Samual Prescott’s ride after Paul Revere’s capture.
It was hard to tell what Seymour loved more — being with his family by the ocean or caring for someone when they were sick. His family has so many memories of being on Cuttyhunk and hearing knocks at the door that led to impromptu physical exams seated at the kitchen table, the obvious and straightforward issues being head lacerations, embedded fishhooks, and deep splinters. If there was an opportunity to put in a few stitches, all the better. But the not-so-obvious complaints resulted in a series of questions, using decades of diagnostic experience, resulting in a possible diagnosis that (after visits with specialists and imaging and lab testing) would often turn out to be correct.
Seymour’s keen diagnostic skills were amazing to observe and were culled from years of practicing medicine before the advent of so much of the testing we now rely on. But he was a surgeon at heart. Walking down the sidewalk in Concord, it was not uncommon for someone to greet Seymour with, “Hi, Dr. DiMare! Do you remember me? You took out my gallbladder 20 years ago!” Seymour loved these encounters. A big smile would light up his face — he was so pleased to have been able to help someone when they needed surgical help — and (in true surgeon fashion, but much to the adolescent horror of his children) ask the person to lift their shirt to show their abdominal scar and smile with pride at his handiwork.
Seymour was full of love and life and an enthusiasm for living life to its fullest. He had a deep desire to make connections — often through sharing stories (lots and lots of stories!) Seymour made the important people in his life the center of his attention — as evident in his endearing “Darling” by which he called his wife, Paula, and his desire to hold the hands of any family member or friend who came to visit him and the tears that often streamed down his cheeks when retelling a particularly poignant story.
He loved to go lobstering and to recite Italian and Shakespearian poems. He had a deep love of all things Dante. He loved to sail in his cat boat “Sou’ Wester.” He loved to dance and to play songs on the harmonica. He was happiest when sharing beauty with others. His energy, enthusiasm and deep appreciation for the opportunities that life has to offer will live on in the hearts of all those whose lives he touched.
Seymour is survived by Paula, his wife of 55 years; his daughter, Sarah Atwood (Pete) of Concord; his son, Tyler DiMare of Framingham; and his grandchildren, Peter and Caroline Atwood. Seymour was predeceased by his sisters, Annamarie Hayes-Eggert of York, Maine, and Diane Bongiorno of Acton. Seymour will be fondly remembered by his nieces and nephews: James (J.T.) Hayes of Washington, D.C.; Cynthia Hayes (Charlie Cummings) of Manhattan, New York; Elizabeth Ransom (Steve) of Kittery, Maine; Grant Bongiorno of Acton; Laura Bongiorno (Kelly Stiles) of San Francisco, California; and Alyssa Bongiorno of Acton.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 11 a.m. in Trinity Episcopal Church, 81 Elm Street. Burial will be on Cuttyhunk Island in the spring of 2025.
Donations can be made to the following organizations that were dear to Seymour’s heart:
- Gosnold Community Fund (in the name of Seymour A. DiMare), c/o Community Foundation of Southern Massachusetts, 227 Union St.-Suite 609, New Bedford, MA 02740.
- Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine (in the name of Seymour A. DiMare, MD, Class of 1952), c/o Holly Linder, Associate Director, Development and Alumni Relations, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, 72 East Concord Street A-504, Boston, MA 02118.
Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. To share a memory or to offer a condolence in Seymour’s online guestbook, please visit www.DeeFuneralHome.com.
