Pauline C. Bergevin

Pauline Chartier Bergevin died peacefully in her sleep on Good Friday, March 25. She was 89 and lived in Manchester the better part of her life. Daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, Pauline loved her family above all. In addition, she was a talented pianist and singer, a scholar of French literature, an avid bridge player and lover of tennis, which she and her family played for many years on the clay courts of Sudden Pitch in Manchester. The affectionate nickname by which she was known, "P.J.," came from her passion for tennis – "Polly Jean" the tennis queen, a comic nod to Billy Jean King from her four sons. Pauline Chartier was born on October 26, 1926, the only child of Dr. Arthur and Freda Chartier of Webster, MA, and spent her youth in Webster. She graduated from Pembroke, the women's college of Brown University, in the Class of 1947, unusual for women at the time. She then pursued an advanced degree, earning a Master's in French Literature at Boston University. It was there she met the young Gerard Bergevin, who was back from active service in WWII and attending BU Law on the GI Bill of Rights. They met at the Boston Public Library, and for years would return to that part of the city on visits from New Hampshire. Following her marriage to Attorney Gerard O. Bergevin, they raised four boys; Arthur, Gerard, Paul and Robert. Arthur died in 1981, with Pauline at his side, while her husband Gerard died in 1983. Pauline later married Bradford Read and they enjoyed many years of international travel and winters in Florida before he passed away in 1995. Pauline was active in the lives of her family, and also in the Manchester community. She devoted much time to the Manchester Library and the Currier Gallery of Art where, in addition to volunteering in the gift shop, she helped to modernize the shop providing the Currier with an additional source of income. Throughout her life, Pauline loved to read: a pile of magazines and books marked her living spaces, up until the end. She was a gourmet cook, a lover of pretty flowers and also of her much cherished cats. A soprano and soloist in the Pembroke Choir, Pauline nurtured a love of music that she passed along to her children and grandchildren. In her final years, her once high-paced mobility slowed by age, she listened to classical music all day and much of the night. She was also a member of the choir at St. Catherine Church. Pauline will be remembered as a beautiful and highly intelligent woman whose humor and love of life brought a sparkle to her deep brown eyes. Unable to speak in her last days, her last known words were: "I love my children." On Good Friday, hours before she passed, her three surviving sons visited her room to say goodbye, read to her and pray. Pauline leaves a legacy of love and family. Her survivors are many and include sons, Gerard Bergevin of Loudon, and his wife, Leslie, Paul Bergevin of Washington DC and his wife, Elizabeth and Robert Bergevin of Amherst; nine grandsons, two granddaughters, and two great grandchildren. A funeral Mass was held on April 9, 2016 at St. Catherine Church, corner of Webster and Hemlock streets, Manchester where Pauline was an active parishioner. Her remains are to be interred in the family plot at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Manchester. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Manchester Visiting Nurses Association or the Employee Appreciation Fund at Birch Hill Terrace.