Providence – Grace Bissonnette, 91, of the Village of Elmhurst, Smith Street died Tuesday, September 27 at Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence.
Born in the Manville section of Lincoln, a daughter of the late Alexandre and Roseanna (Mandeville) Bissonnette, she had lived in Silver Spring, MD before moving to Providence 2 ½ years ago.
Miss Bissonnette was a registered nurse and was the first industrial nurse at Polaroid. From 1937-1944, she was an operating room nurse and staff nurse at Jane Brown Hospital, Providence. From 1944-1948, she was an industrial nurse at Textron Mills, Manville and from 1948-1952, she worked in the same capacity at Argonne Worsted Company, Woonsocket. From 1952-1957, she was an occupational health consultant for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Boston and worked in the same capacity for Kemper Insurance, Chicago from 1957-1962. From 1962-1964, she was the chief nurse at Logan Airport Medical Station of Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was a 1937 graduate of the Rhode Island Hospital Training School for Nurses. She was a 1966 graduate of the Boston College School of Nursing and received her Master’s Degree from Boston University School of Nursing in 1968.
Miss Bissonnette was a member of the Boston Chapter of the American Association of Industrial Nurses, a member of the National League of Nursing and the American Nurses Association. In 1960, she was appointed to the Technical Advisory and Planning Committees of President Eisenhower’s Conference on Occupational Safety.
She is survived by many nieces and nephews including Lucille Creamer of Warwick, Maurice Bissonnette of Providence, Sr. Doris Bissonnette, RJM of Highland Mills, NY, Claire Boudreault of Narragansett, Roseanne Riley of North Providence and Donald Bissonnette of Seattle, WA: 2 sisters-in-law, Stephanie Bissonnette of North Smithfield and Therese Bissonnette of Manville; and many great nieces and great nephews. She was the sister of the late Armand, Lionel, Laure, Henri, Gerald, Joseph, and Harold Bissonnette, Alma Cournoyer, Herminie Delaney and Raymonde Hogue.
The funeral will be held Saturday, October 1 at 8:30 A.M. from the Bellows-Falso Funeral Chapel, 160 River Road, Lincoln with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 A.M. in St. James Church, 33 Division Street, Manville. Burial will be in St. James Cemetery, Manville.
Relatives and friends are invited and may call at Saturday from 8:30 A.M. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Miss Bissonnette’s memory to the VNA Foundation, 622 George Washington Highway, Lincoln, RI 02865-9919 would be appreciated. For Directions and Guest Book, please visit www.legacy.com.
