Paulette Lassaga

1927 - 2019

Paulette Anne (Lalanne) Lassaga

February 17, 1927 - November 23, 2019

Paulette Anne (Lalanne) Lassaga was born in San Francisco on February 17, 1927 to Pauline (Coutard) and Jean-Baptiste Lalanne. She was baptized, made her First Reconciliation, and First Communion, was confirmed, and married at Notre Dame des Victoires Catholic Church in San Francisco. She also attended grammar and secondary school at that Parish's French School. From High School, she received a scholarship to attend Munson's Business School. Upon completion of their program, she entered Lone Mountain College, where she began her formal study of the French language. From there, she transferred to U.C. Berkeley, where she earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees in French.
Paulette met her husband, Raymond Lassaga, through the French Cultural Group in San Francisco, and they were married September 13, 1952. Paulette and Raymond had four children who all attended Notre Dame des Victoires Church and French School. Paulette always had a love of dancing, and she and Raymond enjoyed the many French Cultural events and dances in San Francisco.
In the mid-sixties, Paulette returned to school to obtain a teaching credential, and when she and Raymond bought a ranch in Wheatland, CA in 1969, she began teaching French at Wheatland Union High School. Over her long career there, she also taught Spanish and English. She loved her work and her students. She always had high expectations for her students, and was known for being strict with them. Many of her students have expressed gratitude over the years as they realized how well she prepared them for life beyond high school. Paulette retired from teaching in 1993, but substituted often at the high school well into her 80's. She always said her students "kept her young."
After her retirement, she indulged in her love of dancing, joining square dance and round dance clubs in the Yuba City and Roseville areas. She traveled constantly from Palm Springs to Florida, and many points in between, to attend dance weekends. She also enjoyed singing with a group in the Roseville area for several years.
She loved all things French: the culture, food, fashion, music, history, and of course the language, and was able to travel to France many times over her life. She has extensive family there, and also brought her students to France on several occasions to experience the French culture first-hand. She will be remembered fondly for living life with grace and a joie-de-vivre that was contagious.
Paulette was preceded in death by her parents Pauline and Jean-Baptiste, and her husband Raymond. She is survived by her sister Odine Jacqueline (Cyril) Beattie, her children Paul Firmin (Kim), Albert Jean (Johanna), Michele Louise (Mark) Bishop, and Jacqueline Marie (John) Buhr, her grand-children Raymond and Monique Bishop, Isabelle, Claire, Jordan, and John Buhr, and Jade and Jarrett Lassaga, her niece Odine (Valente), and her nephews Christian, Marc, and Shaun Beattie.
A Mass of Christian burial will take place at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Marysville, CA. on December 21, 2019 at 9:30 am, with a Rosary at Lipp and Sullivan Funeral Home in Marysville on Friday, December 20, at 7:30 pm.
Memorial donations to Sutter North Hospice at 400 Plumas Blvd, Suite 115, Yuba City, CA 95991 would be greatly appreciated.