In the small hours of Friday, May 4, and while under the loving watch of family members, Marie Larochelle of Lewiston breathed her last. She was 92.
Born on August 28, 1925, in the farming community of Van Buren, Maine, Marie was the daughter of Joseph and Maggie (Sirois) Dubay and stepmother Winnie (Madore) Dubay. She was one of 11 children, the last to pass.
In 1941, she moved to Lewiston, joining an elder sister here, and worked in a local shoe shop for several years. In 1943, she married Roland Larochelle, a Lewiston native who owned and operated Victor’s Market on Main Street until well into the 1970s. From the mid-1940’s to the mid-1950’s she dedicated herself solely to homemaking, raising two daughters and two sons. She then re-entered the work force, running Marie’s Restaurant, an establishment many readers will fondly recall, located just a few doors from Victor’s. After a good many years there, she retired. (The restaurant was later owned and operated by her younger son Daniel, who renamed it Carrie’s Restaurant after his daughter.)
Both outwardly and inwardly, Marie was a beautiful woman, the most endearing person you would ever want to meet. Refined and tasteful in appearance, she was also a sweet-tempered, gracious, warm, thoughtful, patient, self-sacrificing, hard-working, and generous person. As all who knew her could readily attest, she had a glow about her, a glow happily preserved in photos taken from the springtime to the winter of her years. If there is such a place as Heaven, as she believed there is, then she is surely there.
A special, heartfelt tribute goes out to the people of Beacon Hospice, especially Marie’s immediate caregivers, Sonia Clark and Molly Mahn. Awesome is the only word for those two women.
Marie is survived by daughters Rachel Olds of Lewiston, and Carol, wife of Ray Bilodeau, of Auburn; sons William of Lewiston, and Daniel and his wife Liberty of Valley View, South Australia; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband of 46 years; her longstanding companion in the years following, Reginald "Babe" Melanson; sisters Lillian Laplante, Cecile Narvick, Therese Levesque, Bernadette Glover, Patricia Madore, Carlene Daines, and Solange Dubay; brothers Robert, Lorne, and Cecil; and her first grandchildren, Michael and Michelle Olds.
You are invited to offer your condolences and share fond memories with the family by visiting Marie's guestbook at www.thefortingrouplewiston.com.
Committal services will be held at St. Peter's Cemetery in Lewiston on Thursday May 10 at 2:00 PM in the small chapel. A Service of The Fortin Group Funeral Home, Cremation and Monument Services, 70 Horton St., Lewiston, Maine 04240. 784-4584.
