Marie Rose Lumina "Kit" Gouvin

Stonington - On Saturday, June 8, 2013, Marie Rose Lumina "Kit" (Cayer) Gouvin died peacefully at her home. She led a remarkable life filled with love, family, and faith. Kit was a relentlessly upbeat, positive, and creative person. She had faith that things would work out for the best. She was best known for her crafts and her baking. She made and gave away hundreds of Raggedy Anne and Holly Hobby dolls and Father Christmases and quilts of every description. She belonged to several quilting groups in Westerly and Ocala, Fla. The act of quilting suited her well. With her characteristic creativity and hard work, she transformed scraps of cloth into works of art. We cannot count how many wedding cakes, birthday cakes, Christmas cookies, and banana breads she made in her life. All we know is that each one was an act of love.

Kit's devotion to spiritual matters sustained her through difficult times and gave her a joyful appreciation for good times. Her favorite prayer was the quick request, "Dear God, give me strength!" Apparently, He did. She was a longtime communicant at St. Michael's Church in Pawcatuck and Queen of Peace Church in Ocala. Among many volunteer roles she played in her life, she served in the St. Michael's Ladies Guild and the Queen of Peace CCW.

She was a fun loving person, an avid reader, and an enthusiastic game player. She loved to play Scrabble, Upwords, and Rumikub, or just a hand of gin rummy. She was a friend to many, and through her work as a hospice volunteer, a comfort to others at the most difficult phase in life. Her family and friends will miss her dearly, but she lives on through the love she shared and the lessons she taught.

Born Oct. 19, 1923, in Alton, R.I., Kit was the daughter of Joseph Cayer and Lumina Cinq (Mars) Cayer. She grew up on a farm, and her nickname came from an old workhorse named "Kit." She bore that name well, always working tirelessly and without complaint as a wife, mother, volunteer, waitress at several popular restaurants, and as a cafeteria attendant at The Westerly Hospital. Kit graduated from Westerly High School in the class of 1941. She immediately went to work at the Bradford Dyeing Association, where she tested parachute silk and other materials bound for military use. Like countless other men and women of her era, she fought World War II here on the home front.

In the middle of the war, she met Paul N.H. Gouvin of Pawcatuck, who served in the Army in the South Pacific with Kit's brother Joe. Just as Paul and Joe were being sent back to the States after their tour of duty in the Pacific, Joe received a serious injury and asked Paul to go to the Cayer farm to let everyone know he was OK and would be home soon. That fortuitous trip to the farm eventually resulted in Kit and Paul getting married on June 1, 1946, after Paul returned from a tour of duty in Europe. They remained married until Paul died on Jan. 31, 1999. They had nine children together. Kit often joked that she "never had a headache."

She is survived by all of her children, listed here with their spouses, Theresa Gouvin Feeley and Richard Feeley of Burlington, Vt., Francine Bernard of West Palm Beach, Fla., Doris King Longo and Frank Longo of Mystic, Pauline Gouvin of St. Charles, Mo., Catherine Gouvin of Mystic, John Gouvin and Tess Chiofi Gouvin of Richmond, Vt., Janette Gouvin Centracchio and Barry Centracchio of Narragansett, R.I., Eric Gouvin and Beth Lovejoy of Longmeadow, Mass., and Pierre Gouvin of Mystic. In addition, she is survived by 12 grandchildren, Brad Feeley, Seth Feeley, Claire Rose Bernard, Max Bernard, Tyler King, Amy King Snell, Emily Morris, Elizabeth Kircher, Thomas Kircher, Lucy Gouvin, Joe Gouvin and Julia Gouvin-Moffat; eight great-grandchildren, Mollie and Summer Feeley, Grayson and Maggie Morris, Ethan Kircher Bright, Tyler King Jr., and Lily and Nora Snell. Many of her siblings survive her as well, her sisters, Cecile O'Keefe, Louise and Eric Burton, Bette Gerrish, and Theresa Pharris; and her brothers, Joseph and Kay Cayer and Wilfred and Hazel Cayer. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law, Nancy Guthrie Cayer, Patricia Gouvin; and her brother-in-law, Donald Gouvin; along with numerous nieces and nephews. Finally, she is also survived by her dear friend, Ed Pritchard of Ocala, Fla.

She was predeceased by her brothers, Fred Cayer and Paul Cayer.

There will be visiting hours from 10 to 11 a.m. on Friday, June 14, at St. Mary Mother of the Redeemer Church, 69 Groton Long Point Road, Groton, followed immediately by a Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. In the fall, the family plans to have a Memorial Mass at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Ocala with interment at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla., next to her husband.

At Kit's request, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Center for Hospice Care Southeast Connecticut, 227 Dunham St., Norwich, CT 06360, (860) 848-5699, http://www.hospicesect.org; or Hospice of Marion County, 3231 SW 34th Ave., Ocala, FL 34474 (352) 873-7400, http://www.hospiceofmarion.com.

The family invites you to visit www.mysticfuneralhome.com to leave an online message of condolence.