Jeanette Eleanor LaPorte

Jeanette (Jean) Eleanor LaPorte, a forty-year resident of Orange, CA, passed away peacefully, at the age of 90, at home as was her wish, on April 16 2020. Born at home in Warwick, Rhode Island, at the height of the Great Depression in 1930 to Gericho and Antoinette (Della Carpini) Brosco, Jean graduated from Nelson W. Aldrich High School in Warwick in 1947, which was also the year that she met her future husband, Ernest (Ernie) L. LaPorte, at a Valentine’s Day party. After graduation, she worked at Shephard’s Department Store as an assistant to the buyer, a job which she loved and spoke of fondly throughout her life. In 1951, after Ernie completed his engineering degree at the University of Rhode Island, she and Ernie married at St. Williams Church in Warwick, and began their family, raising two daughters. Ernie’s work took them to Long Island and Levittown, New York, for a few years until they moved to California in 1956, first living in Los Angeles, and then settling permanently in Orange County in 1957.

At the age of 33, Jean realized a childhood dream of becoming a nurse, first earning her LVN and A.A. degree at Fullerton College and then later, at the age of 50, her RN at Saddleback College. Jean worked as a nurse in several local hospitals over a span of 25 years, after which she retired. An avid reader all of her life, she especially loved newspapers and was known for “gifting” family members with many clippings of essays and articles of interest; and as a life-long learner, Jean continued to keep up with her professional readings in nursing, about which she was passionate. However, the center of Jean’s life was her family, from her husband of 69 years, whom she loved so dearly, to her daughters and their families, to whom she gave unflagging support in every way, as well as her three brothers and a sister and their families, with whom she shared an unbreakable bond even when geography intervened. Quite simply, with her sharp wit and humor, her kindness and generosity, Jean loved life fully, which also meant helping others whenever she could; for that, she was and is greatly loved in return and will be deeply missed.

Jean is survived by her husband Ernie LaPorte; two daughters, Jeanette LaPorte of Riverside, CA and Susan LaPorte of Orange, CA; granddaughters Gabriela Hoffmann and husband Pete Giella of San Diego, Giulia Hoffmann and husband Ben Ho of Poway, CA, Sara LaPorte of Orange, CA, and a great-granddaughter, Clara Hoffmann-Ho of Poway ; two brothers, Jerry Brosco and his wife, Pat, of Maryland, John Brosco of Rhode Island, and sister-in-law Linda Brosco of Massachusetts; as well as many loving nieces and nephews. Her brother Arthur and her sister Florence pre-deceased her, and they were always in her thoughts.

Graveside services for the immediate family are scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, at 1:00 p.m. at Fairhaven Memorial Park and Mortuary in Santa Ana, CA.

For those who wish to make a memorial gift, the family suggests donations to:

The St. Joseph Hospital Foundation

https://www.providence.org/locations/st-joseph-hospital-orange/foundation/donate

Online:

Designation: Heart and Vascular Center

Check Tribute Gift Box, and include a note: In Memory of Jeanette E. LaPorte

Via Check:

Payable to: St. Joseph Hospital Foundation

Memo Line: In Memory of Jeanette E. LaPorte (or IMO Jeanette E. LaPorte)

Send to:

St Joseph Hospital Foundation

1100 West Stewart Drive

Orange, CA 92868

Warwick Public Library, Norwood Branch

c/o Chris LaRoux, Library Director

[email protected]

600 Sandy Lane

Warwick, Rhode Island 02889