Longtime Cambridge Attorney

Ring, Michael J., of Andover, passed away at Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday, October 24, 2022, after a short and courageous battle with cancer. He was 76.

Born in Cambridge to Frances (Hayes) Ring and Richard Ring,

Mike was the eighth of nine children. He attended St. Mary’s elementary and high school, and continued his education at Boston State College and Suffolk Law School. While at Boston State, he met the love of his life, Joan Costas, and spent the next 52 years by her side. Together they shared 50 years of marriage, three children, and two beloved grandchildren.

Aside from his family, Mike’s other great love was practicing law. He was an attorney in private practice for 47 years, the majority of which were spent working in his home city of Cambridge. In addition to his law practice, during his first 30 years of employment he was First Assistant Register of Deeds in Middlesex South District. Over the course of his long career as an attorney, and through his connections to the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts Registers and Assistant Registers of Deeds Association, and the East Cambridge Business Association, he became a fixture in the East Cambridge legal community. Mike was well known for his generosity, compassion, and skillful ability to take on the most difficult cases, and he counted many attorneys, judges, clerks, clients, and innumerable professional associates among his friends.

While his youth and the majority of his working life were spent in Cambridge, Mike enjoyed going home to the suburban quiet of Andover, where he lived with his family for 37 years. He coached each of his children in town sports leagues during their childhoods, and in his spare time he could be found working in his yard or, in his later days, playing in his backyard pool with his grandchildren.

Mike is survived by his loving wife, Joan (Costas) Ring of Andover; his two daughters, Julie (David) Costello of Andover and Lesley (David) Meagher of Stoneham; his son, Michael Ring, Jr. of Boston; and his two grandchildren, Katherine Costello of Andover and Thomas Michael Meagher of Stoneham. He is also survived by two sisters, Frances (Ted) Christo of Middleton and Carol Lynde of Newton, NH; a brother, Ronald (Ernestine) Ring of Fort Myers, FL; two sisters-in-law, Carol Ring of Port Saint Lucie, FL, and Kathleen Schlemmer of Vero Beach, FL; and many nieces and nephews.

Calling Hours will be held on Wednesday, November 2, at the George L. Doherty Funeral Home, 855 Broadway (Powder House Square) in SOMERVILLE, from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. A Prayer Service will be conducted in the funeral home at 6:30 pm. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Masks are preferred. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to the Center for Innovation in Early Cancer Detection at Massachusetts General Hospital.

George L. Doherty Funeral Home, 855 Broadway (Powder House Square) in Somerville, MA