Eternal flame burns again

LYNN – The four members of a Lynn family credit an outpouring of social media concern and a Wakefield businessman?s generosity for helping them recover from recent vandalism at their mother?s and wife?s St. Joseph Cemetery gravesite.Thanks to Quinlan Memorials President Ralph Johnson, a new eternity candle shines next to Julie Donaghy?s headstone overlooking a pond at the Broadway cemetery?s edge. Someone stole the candle Donaghy?s husband, Kirk, and sons, Sean, Thomas and Eric, placed on her gravesite. Donaghy?s parents, Eric and Eleanor Whyte, discovered the candle missing during an Aug. 10 visit to their daughter?s grave.Family member Maeghan Blum said the theft triggered an outpouring of social media sympathy and outrage that, Blum said, “took off like wildfire” after she originally mentioned it on Facebook.She said Johnson read about the theft in The Item and offered to donate a new candle.?I personally have never met anyone so selfless and caring. He eased the pain of the situation for all of Julie?s family,” Blum said.Lynn native Johnson said the theft struck a personal note: His grandmother is buried in St. Joseph and a basket at her gravesite was stolen years ago.?It really bothered me,” he said. “When I read about the candle theft, I just wanted to give back.”Julie Donaghy died at the age of 49 in 2007, and her family visits the site on a regular basis and maintains a gravesite planting basket.Active in St. Pius V School sports and fund-raising activities, Donaghy would have been 58 last week.Kirk Donaghy and his son?s names are inscribed on Julie Donaghy?s headstone along with the words “forever in our hearts.”Blum, her spouse, Sean Donaghy, and their daughter, Kolleen, accepted the candle donation from Johnson Aug. 12 and the Donaghys “went up together as a family” last Sunday to add the candle to Julie Donaghy?s gravesite.Blum credited Facebook and other social media followers, especially Lynn residents, with keeping “Julie?s memory alive.”?It shows you good people are out there,” she said.