Bernadette M. (Palardy) Matheson

Bernadette M. (Palardy) Matheson, 57, of Hudson, died Saturday, October 22, 2022, at UMass Memorial Health Care-Marlborough Hospital.

She was the daughter of Robert and Shirley (Yarush) Palardy and the wife of Stephen Matheson.

Bernadette is survived by her son, Chad Hansbury and his wife Diane of Northborough, her two grandchildren, Keira and Logan, and her sisters, Donna Silva and her husband Ed of Marlborough, and Susan Palardy and her partner Jay McManus of Marlborough.

Bernadette early on in her life learned to love the challenge of athletics. As early as elementary school she played street hockey with the older boys in her neighborhood, convinced an all-boys team in the Marlboro Little League to take her onto their team as a shortstop becoming the first girl to play for a team in the boys Marlboro Little League. In junior high Bernadette wanted a higher level of competition and progressed thru the ranks of achievement of 3rd degree brown belt in karate at Sudbury Academy of Self-Defense.

She showed the discipline, drive and focus that would carry her far into her adult career.  She took on an early morning paper route at nine years of age which was the catalyst for her convincing many small businesses to hire, despite being well under the traditional age of employment. She mixed her love of sports and desire for mentoring others by volunteering to start and help coach a basketball team at the Marlborough Girls Club for which she was recognized by the national organization, Girls Clubs of America, for her five years of service to the commitment of the Girls Club movement.

Bernadette was not someone to follow traditional paths.  Lacking the patience to attend school for four or more years and then begin her professional career, she opted to combine her education with a full-time professional job. Bernadette, at 19 years old, after only 6 months of training at Control Data Institute, talked her way into her first professional position at Digital Equipment Corporation as a Field Service Engineer. With much enthusiasm and little experience, she caught on quickly and serviced components of the multi-million-dollar computer systems at major customer sites.  After 11 years at Digital she moved on to learn the complex technology of computer application performance with the market leader,  Dun & Bradstreet Software.  A year later taking an engineering position, at what would be the worldwide leader in computer storage, EMC. She traveled all over the world representing EMC Engineering with some of their largest international customers. She had a 26-year career in engineering and support at EMC and its acquiring company Dell.

Bernadette loved to travel with her husband Steve and especially loved her yearly trips to Aruba where she met and made many friends.

Family and friends were the catalyst for everything she did in life. Her son Chad was her first priority. Her daughter-in law, Diane and grandchildren, Keira and Logan were the stars in her night sky. Mom and Dad were her foundation. Sisters, Donna and Susan were her points of trust. Her sister of heart was Patti. Nieces Brittany, Hannah and Lindsey were her inspiration and nephews Brandon, Justin and Tylor were her diamonds in the rough. Her husband Steve was her best friend, biggest cheerleader, and the soft landing at the end of each day.   

Visiting hours for Bernadette will be held on Friday, October 28, 2022 from 4pm-7pm at the Slattery Funeral Home, Inc., 40 Pleasant Street, Marlborough, MA 01752. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 10:00 AM at the Slattery Funeral Home, Inc., 40 Pleasant St., Marlborough, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to MSPCA- Angell, 350 South Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02130.

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