SANFORD, MAINE ---- Alice Phyllis (McNamara) Paquette died at Summer Commons Nursing Facility on Saturday, January 7, 2023. Alice fought the good fight for almost half of her life battling Multiple Sclerosis, breast cancer (not once but twice), a seizure disorder, heart valve replacement and the lifelong side effects of ocular shingles. Alice had been in Summer Commons since 2019 when she fractured her femur in five places. I found her on the kitchen floor that day, leaning against the kitchen sink cabinet, eating her lunch. There was a full cup of coffee on her walker seat. It appeared as though she was having a picnic. Alice appeared vulnerable from the outside, but inside, she was powerful to the core.
Alice was a stellar example of a homemaker. She was there every day when school got out and dinner was ready when dad returned home from work at the Shipyard. We played a board game every night after dinner with few exceptions. She handmade many of my clothes and my doll’s clothes. She made homemade meals and baked the most amazing chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. She made many of the family’s cakes for weddings, babies and birthdays. She rocked the coupon game before it became extreme and kept them organized on a table my father built. She meticulously wrote the date and event on the back of every picture. She was the perfect example of all things right, if only I had been able to recognize it at the right time.
Alice was born August 23, 1944 in Newton (Wellesley) Massachusetts, one of five children of the late Thomas and Evelyn (Horrigan) McNamara. Mrs. Paquette was a graduate of Ashland High School. Alice was a dedicated homemaker while her daughter was young returning to work only when she was in high school. Alice worked at both Van Heusen and Corning in Kittery, Maine between November 1985 and March of 1990.
Alice was predeceased by her husband Rene Eugene Paquette on February 10, 2006. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by a brother, Francis McNamara and a sister, June Cripps.
Alice is survived by her daughter Tammi Lynn Paquette of Dover NH, a sister, Doris McNamara of Ashland, NH and Barefoot Bay, FL and a brother, Thomas McNamara and his wife Patricia of Rochester, NH, two grandsons: Zachary T. Maines of Washington and Alexander C. Maines of Maine and two great-granddaughters. Rick Maines, also of Maine, played a large part in Alice’s care during and following the passing of her husband, Rene in 2006. His patience, dedication and loyalty contributed to Alice’s longevity (and stubbornness!) on a day-to-day basis. Alice has numerous nieces and nephews from both the McNamara and Paquette sides of the family.
There will be no calling hours.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, February 10, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Andre Bessette Parish-Sacred Heart Church, 291 Union Avenue, Laconia, NH 03246.
A Chapel Service will follow the Mass at 12:00 p.m., at the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery, Boscawen, NH.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H. is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.