Bertha E. Paquin, age 84, of Overlook Apartments, Bloomingdale, died Saturday, September 29, 2012 at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.
Born in Gabriels, New York on March 06, 1928, she was the daughter of Fred and Helen (Otis) Lester. Bertha married Robert Paquin on June 24, 1948 in St. John's Catholic Church in Lake Clear. He predeceased her in 1984.
Mrs. Paquin was a lifelong resident of Gabriels, as a teenager she worked at the Gabriels Sanatorium and then pursued a career in nursing. She then became employed at Uihlein Mercy Center in Lake Placid as an LPN for over 35 years until her retirement in 2000. She enjoyed fishing, reading, spending time with her grandchildren, genealogy and ancestry research. Mrs. Paquin was also a gold star mother who often over the years participated in the Saranac Lake Memorial Day parade in remembrance of her son Howard Paquin who was lost in the Vietnam War.
She is survived by two daughters Susan Goodman of Gabriels, and Yvonne Piershalski of Greensboro, NC, one brother Vaughn Lester of Kansas City, KS, four grandchildren Kelly Furnia, Steven Piershalski, Robert Goodman , and Kelsey Goodman , and two great grandchildren Cody and Tanner Furnia. She was preceded in death by her father, mother, two daughters Dawn Helen Paquin, Judy Ann Paquin and one son Howard Robert Paquin and one brother Raymond Lester.
Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. There will be no calling hours. A graveside service will take place at the convenience of the family in Mountain View Cemetery in Gabriels.
Friends wishing to remember Bertha E. Paquin may make memorial contributions to the American Diabetes Association or the American Heart Association in care of the funeral home. Family and friends can also share their memories and sign the on line guestbook at fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com.