Glenmont, NY - Madeleine Armande Baillargeon LeCours died at Albany Medical Center on Thursday, November 22, 2018. She was born in 1933 in Westford, Vermont to Arthur Baillargeon and Rose Laroche, the eldest of four children.
Madeleine went to elementary schools in Westford and Gardner, Massachusetts. Her family later moved to Hardwick, Vermont and she graduated from Hardwick Academy high school in 1951. She attended Fanny Allen School of Nursing, beginning her career as a Registered Nurse in 1954. While in nursing school, Madeleine began a long-distance courtship with Robert Conrad LeCours, also a graduate of Hardwick Academy, who was attending Middlebury College and then joined the military. The couple married in Hardwick in 1955 and started their family in Willimantic, Connecticut, later residing in northern Vermont for several years before eventually settling in Saratoga Springs in 1963.
Madeleine worked at Saratoga Hospital in the operating and recovery rooms. In 1972, while pursuing a teaching certificate at Russell Sage College, she began teaching nursing and nurse assisting for the Saratoga BOCES. She was later asked to develop a comparable educational program at the Warren/Washington BOCES, where she taught from 1979 to 1992, and she served for many years on a State Education Department committee developing curriculum for nursing study programs statewide.
After retiring from teaching, Madeleine indulged her long-standing passion for antiques, embarking on a new career as an antique dealer. Beginning in the early 1990s, she was a member of the Broadway Antiques Gallery cooperative in Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa, specializing in vintage jewelry. During this era, Madeleine and Robert were snow birds who split their time between Sun City Center, Florida and Glenmont, New York, where they moved in 2010. Throughout her life, Madeleine was an avid reader with an interest in national and world affairs. She was also an extraordinarily creative person with an eye for detail – and a thirst for perfection. She had a knack for working with what she had and making it beautiful. She was an accomplished sewer and knitter; she painted and made dried floral arrangements and wreaths. She took pride in her work as a nurse, teacher, artist and businesswoman – but above all else was devoted to her seven children and extended family.
She was a nurturing force and tireless cheerleader who was always asking what she could do to help. She loved gathering with family and friends and thought nothing of preparing and serving dinner to thirty people on short notice. She had a special connection with children (especially
babies) and was a “Nana” beyond compare. She was warm and affectionate, with a talent for welcoming new people – instantly making them part of the family in the French Canadian tradition. And what a family she and Robert, her husband of 63 years, created!
In addition to her husband Robert and brothers Gerald Baillargeon (Sally) and Roland Baillargeon (Harriet), Madeleine is survived by seven children: Marc (Mary), Suzanne, Alan (Laura), Brian (Coleen), John (Erin), Tom (Lynn) and Lisa (David Coup); ten grandchildren: Daniel
(Amanda), Diane (Levi Brown), Elise Fraijo (Matthew), Katherine Drame (Mamadou), Eric, Douglas, Catherine, Nathaniel Coup, Jason Coup and Genevieve Coup; and four great-grandchildren: Maisie Brown, Natalie Fraijo, Mamadou Drame and Matthew Fraijo. As we say goodbye, our hearts are full of memories that are as beautiful as the woman who inspires them.
Relatives and friends may call from 5 to 8pm Friday, November 30, 2018 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs (518-584-5373).
Funeral services will be held at 11am Saturday, December 1, 2018 at the Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church, 175 Fifth Ave at Henning Road, Saratoga Springs. Burial will be private.
Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuneralhome.com.
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