Andrea Doane Meunier

While recovering from treatments during the last year, Andrea loved playing Family Feud with her granddaughter, Zoe Meunier. Our top six words to describe Zoe’s Nana would be kind, sweet, loving, funny, selfless, and (secretly) tough. And she was like this with everyone. Family, friends, new acquaintances—whoever you were, she was happy to see you and made you feel important and loved.

Andrea was all of this and more despite facing considerable hardships in life. Born in New Bedford on May 10, 1944, she lost her father, Warren Doane, to cancer when she was young; she lost her son, Robert Meunier, to cancer when he was young; and she lost her brother, Warren H. Doane, to the same esophageal cancer that would eventually shorten her own life. She also faced down depression for most of her life.

But Andrea did not let any of this change who she was or what she could do. After growing up in Rochester and graduating from New Bedford High School, she travelled with her husband, Barry Meunier, living in many states across the country while he served in the Air Force. When they later returned to Massachusetts to settle down in New Bedford, she worked as an educator and an artist while raising their two sons.

Andrea then returned to school at a relatively late age, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from UMass at the age of 48, and then earning a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University at the age of 57.

And she used her degrees to continue helping people, first as a Clinical Therapist at New Bedford’s Child and Family Services, where she treated traumatized children in need, and later as a Social Services Case Manager at Crystal Springs School, where she advocated for the rights of children with profound developmental disabilities.

Andrea eventually moved back to her childhood home in Rochester, where she helped care for her parents, Dorothy (Jackson) Alderson and Albert Alderson in their later years. After retiring, she continued as an active and warming presence in the community, helping at the Rochester Counsel on Aging and volunteering for its Breakfast Program and Friends of COA’s dinners and sales.

But Andrea’s resume is not the real story. That is told by the outpouring of love and support she received from her friends and family once they learned she was ill. Their constant visits, notes, calls, and flowers spoke volumes of the effect she had on the people around her and gave her great comfort in her last year. She faced her death as she did her life, with peace and without fear, and we will miss her very much.

Survivors include Andrea’s granddaughter, Zoe Meunier; son, William Meunier; ex-husband, Barry Meunier; sisters Eileen Manley and Sara Doane; and many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, and friends.

Private services are in the care of Rock Funeral Home, 1285 Ashley Blvd., New Bedford. For online tributes, please visit: www.rock-funeralhome.com

In lieu of flowers, please consider helping the fight against childhood cancer by donating to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Or the charity of your choice, it’s all good.