Michael F. Palumbo

Michael F. Palumbo, aged 80, a longtime resident of Woburn and Dunstable, passed away on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH.  He was the beloved husband of Danice N. (Wooding) Palumbo, with whom he shared over 60 years of marriage. 

Born in Boston, MA on June 30, 1945, he was the son of the late Frank and Maria Elena (Vitale) Palumbo.  He received his early education in the Belmont School system and was a graduate of Belmont High School.  He worked in construction his whole life and was a hands-on construction supervisor for many projects for Maggiore Construction and Development Construction of Medford, MA, including multiple WW Grainger buildings in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.   He went out on his own as Thunderbird Construction and specialized in major material handling installations with Langley and Sheco Material Handling Companies.

He enjoyed photography and had his own dark room and was always shooting job photos, of one kind or another, during the day and developing and printing them at home in the evening.  He also loved shooting natural light shots at South Shore Music Circus.

He prevented the erosion of a whole area of Hull, Massachusetts!  He bought a little waterfront cottage in 1964. At hightide the water would splash right up against the house! This causes the land to erode with each tide. He and his wife, Danice, fought for years to get permission to build a seawall to protect their home from collapsing into the ocean. The construction of the seawall was carefully planned. As soon as the tide went down to a certain point, they would pour the cement into the form, and it would be solid enough by the time the next tide came in 12 hours. On top of this seawall was a huge concrete patio where every year we repainted the lines of a shuffleboard court, badminton court, hopscotch and ‘Girls, Girls Out’. We had a lot of parties on that seawall/patio, but it also prevented erosion around that corner of the peninsula. Who knows how many homes might have fallen into the bay if not for the seawall/patio they fought for and built.  Michael & Danice enjoyed hosting large parties and family reunions at their beach house and in their Dunstable home.  You could usually find Michael cooking on the grill!

He served on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Rifle Association in Woburn for many years as target shooting was another of his favorite past-times.

He and his family lived in Woburn from 1967 to 1985 when a trip to Dunstable to visit Danice’s brother and his family attracted them to that quaint little town.  Michael was very active in the Town of Dunstable, having served as a Volunteer Firefighter, a Reserve Police Officer, the Animal Inspector and the Animal Control Officer, as well as working supervisor for their highway department until injured on the job.  Despite his limited mobility, he continued to support the Town of Dunstable, serving on the Town Hall Building Committee by donating his time and years of construction expertise. First, he designed and supervised the renovation of the old Dunstable Post Office building into the current Dunstable Police Department. Second, when it was time to renovate the Dunstable Town Hall, he again donated his time and skills to the town by brainstorming how to use a vacant home at 160 Pleasant Street as a temporary town hall. He used the measurements from the small space and came up with a plan so that all employees had a workspace. He was not done; he then donated the office petitions used to create said office space and even arranged the manpower to install them. He then coordinated the move from the town hall to the ‘Temporary Town Hall’. He even coordinated and supervised a group of prisoners from the Middlesex County House of Correction to empty the town hall.

He also served on the Board of Directors for NMCPA (North Middlesex County Police Association) and he and his wife handled the monthly mailing of the police bulletins for the group.

He was an avid car collector and had several over the years. Although he had convertibles and hardtops, his preference was convertibles. He had many types of cars, but his favorite was the Ford Thunderbirds. He and wife, Danice, took a 1971 Ford Thunderbird 4 door sedan, cut it up and transformed it into a 2-seater with a pick-up truck bed, like a ranchero. They named it BIRDERO.

Surviving him in addition to his loving wife Danice are his daughter, Ann-Marie E. and her husband, Frank Wright of Dunstable; a granddaughter, Alexandra F. Wright and her fiancé Robert Joyce of Nashville; and a grandson, Nicholas W. Wright of Dunstable; an estranged daughter; his aunt, Gillian Palumbo of Gloucester, MA; in-laws John and Lisa Wooding of Dunstable and Joyce and Rich Reynolds of Nashua along with countless nieces, nephews and cousins. 

Relatives and friends will be welcomed at the TYNGSBOROUGH FUNERAL HOME, 4 Cassaway Drive, Tyngsborough, on Tuesday, May 12, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. His Funeral Service will be held in the Funeral Home on Wednesday, May 13, at 11 a.m.  Burial will follow in Central Cemetery, Dunstable. In lieu of flowers, those wishing may make a donation in Michael’s memory to the Community Hospice House in Merrimack New Hampshire at https://hhhc.org/

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