Joseph Q. Guccione, 62, of Duxbury, died at home on Nov. 3 of complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  He was a graduate of Bentley University with a degree in accounting.  He worked for nearly forty years in fund accounting and financial management for independent schools.

Mr. Guccione’s early career included positions with the Massachusetts Division of the American Heart Association and its Boston Chapter; Family Services of Greater Boston; The United Way of Mass Bay and  Cardinal Cushing Industries of Hanover.

In l993 the family became Duxbury summer residents when Mr. Guccione was appointed Director of Finance and Operations for the Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh, a position he subsequently held at the Kent Place School, Summit, N.J., beginning in 1997.  During his tenure at Winchester Thurston, he rowed competitively with the Masters Division of Three Rivers Rowing Association, served as a member of its board of directors and assisted the school’s rowing program.  He returned to Boston as Chief Financial Officer for the Winsor School until his illness forced an early retirement in 2008.  He was a board member of the National Business Officers Association and member of the Bentley University Executive Club.

Mr. Guccione was an avid sportsman and community volunteer. In the mid-seventies, he spent weekends as a skydiving jumpmaster/instructor at Parachutes Inc., in Orange, Mass. While chairman of the Duxbury Yacht Club’s Waterfront Committee and New England Optimist Dinghy Association,  he and his wife were instrumental in introducing the boats to Duxbury and organizing the town’s first New England Opti regatta.   Additional volunteer work included the US Rowing Association; the Catboat Association; Duxbury Rural and Historical Society, Duxbury Art Association, The Art Complex Museum and St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Mr. Guccione leaves his wife Leslie Davis Guccione; his sons, Christopher J. Guccione and wife Lisa (McCauley) of Holliston, and  Taylor N. Guccione of Duxbury and Mammoth Lakes, Calif.; his daughter, Amy MacMillan and husband Robert of Newport, R.I.; his parents, Geraldine Mendenhall Guccione and the late Quentin Guccione, DDS of Needham; his brother,  Gary A. Guccione of Millis; his sisters, Rosemarie Winters of Central, S.C. and Karen Czubik of Franklin; and four grandchildren.

In hopes that he could further research and understanding of ALS, Mr. Guccione donated his brain tissue and spinal cord to the Brain Tissue Center of Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital.

A memorial service was held at the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist, Duxbury, on Nov. 10.  Burial will be private.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Town of Duxbury’s King Caesar Fund for medical emergency financial assistance, the ALS Association, Massachusetts chapter, or Cranberry Hospice of Jordan Hospital.  Arrangements by the Shepherd Funeral Home.