DiMAGGIO, Emily Alberta (Frederick) Of Palm Beach, formerly of Wellesley and Marion, died at home in the early morning hours of Feb. 21, 2022. The last surviving widow among the close-knit Red Sox' foursome of Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Dominic DiMaggio, was 99 years old. Born November 10, 1922 in Boston, she was eldest of two daughters of Albert and Eleanor (DiStasio) Frederick. She attended the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, graduating in 1941. After completing her course of study at Catherine Gibbs, she was hired as an assistant to a bank executive. In 1943, she met Dominic DiMaggio, the Red Sox centerfielder and the youngest of the baseball-playing DiMaggio brothers. After a long courtship that included Dom's WWII service in the Navy, the couple married at St. Paul's Church in Wellesley in October of 1948. At the time of Dom's death in 2009, that had been married 60 years. After the couple's three children reached school age, Emily became active in charity and voluntarism. She was a supporter of the the Florence Crittenden Home, The Home for Little Wanderers, Easter Seals, Paul Newman's Boggy Creek Camps, Dana Hall, the Boston Pops, the Battleship Cove Museum, the Palm Beach Habilitation Center, and the Friends of the Vatican Museum. But it was the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to which she was most devoted, from the time that Darwin Farber established it as the Sydney Farber Cancer Institute to its establishment of a fundraising outpost in Palm Beach. In 1990, after she and Dom had retired to Palm Beach, she co-founded with Polly Davidson, DFCI's Discovery Ball in Palm Beach. The ball became an annual event which has raised millions of dollars. She stepped down from the board in 2009, after almost 30 years of service and support. "Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was fortunate to have a dedicated and longtime supporter in Emily DiMaggio," said Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO. "As a trustee and donor since 1977, she initiated Dana-Farber fund-raising activities in the Palm Beach area, including founding in 1989 the Institute's successful Palm Beach Discovery Celebration gala, which have raised millions of dollars for cancer care and research at the Institute. We have tremendous gratitude for Emily and her commitment and efforts. The entire Institute extends our deepest sympathies to her family." Mrs. DiMaggio is survived by her children, Dominic Paul DiMaggio Jr., and Sally Ricker DiMaggio of Atkinson, NH, Peter Joseph DiMaggio and his wife Nancy Dillion DiMaggio of Westford, and Emily C. DiMaggio of Amelia Island, FL; six grandchildren, two cousins, a niece, and a nephew. Her sister, Barbara, preceded her in death. At her request, the Funeral Mass will be for family members only. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute by visiting http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/EmilyFDiMaggio or by check to: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168. For online guestbook gfdoherty.com George F. Doherty & Sons Wellesley 781 235 4100

Published by Boston Globe from Feb. 25 to Feb. 27, 2022.