Henri E. Deweirdt, 97, of Woonsocket, passed away at Landmark Medical Center on Tuesday, Christmas Day. He was the husband of Albertine (Belisle-Gagnon) Deweirdt and the late Therese (Rondeau) Deweirdt to whom he was married for sixty years.
Born in Roubaix, France, he was the son of the late Julien and Marie Louise (Blondin) Deweirdt. Mr. Deweirdt, along with his step-mother, the late Flore (Lepers) Deweirdt, immigrated to the United Sates in 1913 to join his father, who had immigrated the previous year. He remained a Woonsocket resident for the rest of his life.
Mr. Deweirdt was a WWII Navy veteran, having served in the South Pacific aboard the USS Intrepid, and later was transferred to Yorktown, VA, to the Underwater Ordnance Special Weapons Project.
In 2001, Representative Patrick Kennedy presented Mr. Deweirdt with five war decorations that were long overdue.
A licensed electrician and maintenance foreman, he had worked at Branch River Wool Company, in North Smithfield, Sidney Blumenthal/Burlington Industries, in Woonsocket and Central Falls, and finally for International Fibers, in Woonsocket, before retiring in 1967.
He was a parishioner of St. Agatha’s Church, and served on the building committee when the parish was first founded. He was a member of both the St. Agatha’s and St. Joseph’s Senior Citizens Club, and had been active in the American Red Cross Caravan of Cheers.
Besides his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Jacqueline Croteau, of Woonsocket, and Threse Nault of Thompson, CT., six grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.
His funeral will be held Saturday at 9:00am from the Fournier & Fournier Funeral Home, 99 Cumberland St., Woonsocket, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00am in St. Agatha’s Church, Joffre St., Woonsocket. Burial will be held in Precious Blood Cemetery, Woonsocket. Visiting hours are Friday from 4-7 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association, 222 Richmond St. Suite 108, Providence, RI., 02903.