Louis A Duquette

He was born in Fairfield on 23 January 1932, the son of the late Wilfred and Annie (Browe) Duquette and grew up in Westport where he attended Staples High School. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1951. He proudly served on the destroyer-minesweeper U.S.S. Shea and participated in the “Operation Castle” atomic bomb testing program in the Pacific. He was honorably discharged as a Machinist Mate Second Class in 1955.

He married Eleanor S. Woodson of Westport on Sept. 10, 1955. Partnering with his brother Gerald they opened Jerry’s Hardware in Saugatuck where the successful business prospered until he retired in 1986 and relocated to Old Saybrook. He was an avid gardener, country music lover, voracious reader, and gifted woodworker. He was also an enthusiastic sports fan, particularly of the U. Conn Huskies women’s basketball team. Upon the death of Eleanor in 2013 he moved to Trumbull to reside with his daughter.

In addition to his wife and parents, he was predeceased by two brothers; Carl Duquette and Gerald Duquette and three sisters Marguerite Ference, Rita Greene and Marion Hall. He is survived by his son Thomas L. Duquette and his wife Sherri Maxwell of Cross Plains, Texas; daughter Susan A. Duquette and her fiancé Alan Benincaso of Trumbull; granddaughters Kristin Malagise of Trumbull and Megan Benincaso of Stamford; and sisters Edna Decker and her husband Frank of Westport; Jacqueline Goodrow of Brookfield; and Claire Faucher and her husband Jean Luc of Westport.

Services will be private. Swann Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. The family requests in you consider a donation be made in Lou’s memory to either The Connecticut Hospice Inc, 100 Double Beach Road, Branford, CT 06405 or The Arthritis Foundation.