Agnes Fennelly

Ness Mason Fennelly, 77, passed away peacefully on May 31, 2026.

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Ness was raised in New Jersey and on Long Island, the middle of five children of the late Agnes (Gilhuly) and Norris N. Mason.

Ness was devoted to her family, with cherished memories of summers in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, and sailboat rides with her father. She grew up surrounded by her brothers and sisters and developed deep and lifelong friendships from her grade school years in Centerport and high school years at Harborfields in Greenlawn, New York. She married her high school sweetheart and eventual ex-husband, Dan Fennelly, after high school. They relocated to Massachusetts, where she raised her two daughters in Hopkinton. She remained there until her daughters finished high school. During her years as a New Englander, she became deeply involved in the PTO and formed warm bonds with other parents.

Ness was a lifelong caretaker, and while her kids were young, she pursued her nursing degree. She entered a career as a psychiatric nurse that was a calling and fitting for her warm, patient and caring personality. Ness was full of passion and adventure and embraced a move to Charleston, South Carolina, as an empty nester. There, she worked as a nurse for the Medical University of South Carolina and enjoyed sunset dinners on Shem Creek and walks by the water with the family dog Alex. She built a community of like-minded friends who loved music, good food, art and laughter like she did.

Her love of travel inspired her to take on a traveling nurse position as she reached her early 50s, but her first stop in New York City brought her back to a place she loved with all her heart. She stayed there as a nurse with New York Presbyterian Hospital until her retirement. She loved her walks in Central Park, concerts and Broadway shows and taking advantage of all the city had to offer with friends and family.

Ness laughed easily, cared deeply and will be so missed by all her loved ones, including her daughters, Arie Sowers and Meghan Altidor, her beloved siblings Jim, Noel and Rich Mason, and her precious sisters by marriage, Tricia Mason and Ann O’Neill Mason. She was Coucou and Nana to her darling granddaughters, Solange and Sidney Altidor and Masey Sowers.

She was predeceased by her sister, Patricia (Tissy) Mason.

In honor of Ness’ memory, donations can be made to the Central Park Conservancy or the Alzheimer’s Association.

Obituaries are submissions, typically from funeral homes, that are not subject to the same level of editorial oversight as the rest of the Hopkinton Independent. Obituaries may be edited for grammatical and factual mistakes and clarifications and shortened for space considerations.