Eleanor M. (Stokes) Poirier, 87, a longtime resident of Franklin, died Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at the Maples Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Wrentham. She was the wife of the late Dr. C. Edward Poirier, who died in 1999.
Born in Cambridge on February 5, 1926, she was the daughter of the late Joseph and Alice E. (Murphy) Stokes. Mrs. Poirier was a graduate of the Lowell Teachers College and earned a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Assumption College in Worcester. Having a lifelong devotion to children, she had formerly worked as an elementary school teacher in various towns. She also worked as a counselor at NORCAP Lodge in Foxboro for many years.
Mrs. Poirier had many hobbies and taught ceramics in her home studio, and was involved in the community in various volunteer roles. She was a Power Squadrons Certified Coastal Navigator, and enjoyed boating with her family on Cape Cod.
She is survived by her daughter Kathleen Pearson and her husband Steve of Burrillville, RI and three sons, Thomas Poirier and his wife Lori of Durham, NH, Stephen Poirier and Nancy Summers of Woonsocket, RI and Joseph Poirier and his wife Kim of Hopedale, and her daughter-in-law Janice McCarthy of Laconia, NH.
She is also survived by nine grandchildren; Steven, Douglas, Brian, Janelle, Ben, Eric, Casey, Sarah, and Julianne, and nine great-grandchildren and a sister Alice Daley of Simsbury, CT. She was predeceased by her son Edward V. Poirier and her brothers John and Joseph Stokes.
Relatives and friends are invited to her funeral from the Ginley Funeral Home of Franklin, 131 Main Street (www.ginleyfuneralhomes.com) on Monday, July 1 at 9:15 a.m. followed by a funeral Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Franklin at 10 a.m. Burial will follow at the parish cemetery.
Calling hours will be held on Sunday from 4 – 8 p.m.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Assoc., 480 Pleasant St, Watertown, MA 02472.