Theresa Gouin

KENNEBUNK - Theresa (Beaudoin) Gouin, 99, died Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010 at her home at Huntington Commons in Kennebunk, after a brief illness.

She was born June 4, 1911, in Laconia, N.H., the first child of Adelard and Celina (Gosselin) Beaudoin. She graduated from Sacred Heart School in Laconia and had been a member of Sacred Heart Church. She worked in the Laconia Stocking Factory for many years and had been a volunteer at the Laconia Hospital.

She married Romeo J. Gouin on Aug. 15, 1933, in Laconia, N.H., and on their honeymoon they traveled to Wells, where they later retired. They were married for more than 70 years. Mrs. Gouin resided in Laconia and Gilford, N.H., for most of her life, prior to moving to Maine with her husband. When living in Gilford, she opened her home as a summer boarding house for actors and actresses who were performing at the Lakes Region Playhouse. Among the guests who enjoyed her home-cooking were Vincent Price, Ethel Waters, Alan Alda, and Ann Sothern. Mrs. Gouin lived in Wells and Kennebunk for 35 years.

She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Wells, where for many years she made floral arrangements for the altar - with flowers grown in her garden. An active quilter, she had helped to create the Bicentennial Quilt for the town of Wells. She also enjoyed making hooked and braided rugs, as well as sewing and knitting. She was an accomplished cook and continued to bake her own bread until she was 98.

She was predeceased by her husband, Romeo J. Gouin, in 2004. She was also predeceased by two sisters, Cecile Susel and Jacquelyn Lavoie, of Rhode Island; and three brothers, Larry, Renee, and Gerard Beaudoin, of New Hampshire.

She is survived by her sisters Madeline French, of Port Charlotte, Fla., and Rachel Girard, of West Boylston, Mass.; two sons, Maurice G. Gouin and his wife, Helene, of Meredith, N.H., and Francis R. Gouin and his wife, Clara, of Deale, Md.; two grandsons, Norman Gouin, of Laconia, and Paul Gouin and his wife, Rachel, of Roswell, Ga.; and two granddaughters, Cristina Paul and her husband, Patrick, and Bonnie Delabrer, of Deale, Md.; four great-grandchildren, John-Paul and Christopher Gouin, of Roswell, Ga., and Angelina and Alora Delabrer, of Deale, Md.; and many nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Sacred Heart Church in Laconia, N.H., with burial to follow at the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Laconia. Funeral arrangements are by Bibber Funeral Home of Kennebunk.