Our mother, Loretta Sieber LaFleur, was born February 19, 1938, she completed her life’s work, and was taken by the angels Sunday morning, January 10th, 2021.
She considered Buffalo, NY to be her hometown but her father’s work took them around the country. They lived in Lincoln, RI when Loretta graduated from St. Xavier’s Academy in 1955. Edna Lynch Chase must have been a pretty close friend from school as they remained in touch throughout their lives. Rebel that she was, my mother joined the Sisters of Mercy in Cumberland, RI following high school where she had very fond memories of Mother Nathanial.
Following the convent our mother attended Trinity College Burlington, VT, and attended summer school at St. Michael’s College in Winooski, VT where she met our father, Ron, in calculus class. He was immediately struck by her beauty and approached her after class introducing himself and calling her “Labella”. She claims not to have been amused but she must have been. They had many dates at Bove’s Restaurant and were married on August 1, 1959.
Loretta and Ron raised their 4 children in Franklin, MA between 1965 and 1980 at which time they moved to Scituate, MA to a home with a wonderful view and the smell of the ocean. They also had a condo in Jackson, NH where they were frequent cross-country skiers and hosts to family and friends, particularly Ann and Charlie Hinckley and Barbara and Peter Ubillos.
During their time in Franklin, Loretta also attended Massasoit Community College, Salve Regina University and Boston University. She earned an Associate’s degree, a Bachelor of Science degree and became a registered nurse. She then attained a Master’s Degree in maternal nursing. She was then accepted to Downstate Medical School’s nurse midwifery program, they bought a lovely co-op in Brooklyn, NY, she became a certified nurse midwife and teacher, and she found a great friend in Karen Burgin. Loretta helped many women through childbirth and brought over 300 babies into the world. One baby was named after her, Jackie Loretta. Another was named after our brother, Philip Fredrick.
Loretta and Ron traveled all over the world, and in their later years they consolidated their lives in Nashua, NH. Loretta survived Ron by almost six years and was surrounded by friends at Colliston Yard Condominiums. During this time that she enjoyed phone calls and visits with people with whom she had been close for many years including her friends from the Sisters of Mercy, her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, our fathers first cousin Tom and his wife Dottie McGovern, our father’s first cousin Lenny Charest, our father’s brother-in-law, John McCarthy as well as her own cousins Judy, Tina, Cathy and Nancy, as well as the loving companionship of Bill DeFeo.
Loretta was predeceased by her parents, Philip Sieber and Jessie Gorman Sieber, and by her husband of 55 years, Ronald I. LaFleur. She is survived by her companion Bill DeFeo, her son Michael and his partner Giuseppe Marrari, her daughter Theresa and her husband Bob Sculley, her daughter Mary and her husband Scot Langdon and by her son Philip and his wife Jeannine Phillips LaFleur. Her grandchildren include Joseph, Jennifer, Sarah, Anna, Abby, Emily and Wyatt, and she had eight great grandchildren.
Arrangements are private. The family feels warm affection for Loretta’s friends from the convent, from Franklin, Scituate, North Conway, and from Brooklyn. And we feel tremendous warmth and gratitude to our mother’s friends at Colliston Yard in Nashua.
For those who wish, memorial contributions in Loretta’s memory can be made to either Home, Health & Hospice, C/O Community Hospice House, 7 Executive Park Drive, Merrimack NH 03054 or to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place • Memphis, TN 38105.
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