Rene E. Gendreau, 83, of Nashua, formerly of Lowell, died Tuesday, July 24, at his home of Pulmonary Fibrosis.
He was the husband of Ann (Young) Gendreau, to whom he was married for 6 years, and previously to Loretta (Gagnon) Gendreau who died in 1986. Rene was born in Lowell on January 1, 1924, a son of the late Edmund & Anna (Boucher) Gendreau. Rene is survived by his son Marc Gendreau, CCIM CPM & Realtor from Lowell and his close friend Barbara Stella, and David Gendreau, MD and his partner Kevin Williams of San Francisco, his wife’s brothers John, Bill & Chuck Young & their families, & greatly loved by the family of Loretta J. Gagnon. He was the brother of the late Therese Bolduc, Rita Morin & Paul Gendreau.
He served in the Army from 1943 to 1946, with the 465th Field Artillery Battalion in the Philippines. He studied for 2 years in the seminary, before starting his Real Estate & Insurance business in 1953 which he continued all his life saying ‘if you love what you do, then it is not work’. As a realtor, he loved to sell homes, renovate apartment buildings & mentor people in starting their own businesses. He believed that setting the rent at half price helped those in need. Later in life, he graduated from Umass Lowell with a BS in banking.
He was a Knight of Malta, a lay religious order in the Catholic church, Corporator and volunteer at both Lowell General Hospital and St Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua. His heart reached out to the needy & poor all over the world, and locally through St Jeanne d’Arc Church, Holy Name Society, Franco American School, St Joseph the Worker Shrine, as a 4th degree Knight of Columbus, D’Youville Manor, Catholic Charities, St Vincent de Paul Society, the homeless in Haiti, and many more charitable organizations.
He was also a former member of the Lowell Planning Board, director of the Lowell Co-op Bank, President and Realtor of the year with the Greater Lowell Board of Realtors, Vesper CC, Lowell Boys Club, Lowell Rotary Club, and CMAC.
Friends may call at the M. R. LAURIN & SON FUNERAL HOME, 295 Pawtucket St., Lowell, from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9pm Friday. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday morning at 11:30am at St. Mary Church, Chelmsford. Interment in St. Joseph Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Home Health & Hospice Care @ www.hhhc.org.