Anita Boutet Obituary
Obituary published on Legacy.com by Hope Memorial Chapel - Biddeford on May 13, 2025.
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Mom, I can't count the number of times I've reached for the phone to call you and share my day since you left, April 25th, 2025, just to check in and chat. I'm so used to you always being there to cheer us on when we made you proud and standing behind us when we needed to sort things out or untangle mistakes.
You probably don't realize that one of the first lessons you taught me (after looking both ways before crossing the street) was about judgement, and it has stayed with me and became part of the fabric of my life. I was young the first time that I remember that I had complained or said something critical about a person, and you'd replied with "Maybe that's all they have, Suzy. They're just doing the best they can." As a result, I followed your examples and learned to lend a hand and offer support. Many times I shared my classroom challenges with you and you'd remind me to figure out how each child learned. Then you helped me look for the strategy that best met their needs because, after all, they were doing the best they could with what they had. Even after you retired, due to physical challenges, you continued to be a special educator to the world, giving us your all, doing the best you could. You understood our individual needs and you continuously looked for ways to help us learn, succeed, and reach our goals. Your joy was providing each of us with the right tools for success: a warm meal, clothing, just the right book, spending money, rides, a safe haven, or just being a cheerleader on our side of life. You always knew what was needed and when and where to give it.
You never dealt in empty gestures: you generously gave all you had to your friends and family, whether as wife and best friend to Dad (Richard), your husband for 64 years, or to your four children, ten grandchildren, or six great-grandchildren. You were a superhero with an oversized heart fueled by the love you gave and received.
Mom, though you're not here physically anymore and I can't pick up my phone to talk to you, I know you are here with us in spirit. You left this world before we were ready and quite honestly I don't think any of us could've ever been ready to accept a loss this great. We all miss you so much, and thankfully you left us with lifetimes of memories and stories we'll keep sharing over and over, keeping your light alive. It's all we have left, Mom but, like you taught us, we're doing the best we can with it.
We all hope that when it's our time to leave this world that we were able to make a difference. If that's the measure of success, then Anita Jean Boutet, you aced it! You left behind your legacy of caring and understanding to be shared by everyone who knew and loved you.
There will be a celebration of her life on Sunday, June 15th, 2025 at 2 Paul Avenue in Saco from 11am-2pm. Please join us, and share a memory of Anita.
We all hope that when it's our time to leave this world that we were able to make a difference. If that's the measure of success, then Anita Jean Boutet, you aced it!
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