Deborah L. Ducharme

1959 - 2013

Deborah L. (Stand) Ducharme, 53
Wilton, NH - Deborah L. Ducharme (Stand), 53, of Wilton, passed away on January 14, 2013 after a long, courageous battle with cancer.
Deb was born in Woonsocket, RI on August 18, 1959 to Joseph and Elizabeth (Tucker) Stand. One of eight kids, she grew up in Uxbridge, MA and graduated from Uxbridge High School. She married her husband, Mark A. Ducharme, in 1977 in Hawaii, where they lived for the next 3 years before returning to Worcester. Deb, her husband, and their children relocated to Wilton, NH in 1991.
An avid volunteer, Deb was an active member of the Wilton community for over 10 years. She founded and grew the Open Cupboard Food Pantry in downtown Wilton through the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Year round, Deb could be found helping the less fortunate in the community with food and donations. During the holiday season, Deb launched the Giving Tree program, through which gifts would be purchased and distributed to those in need. She also established monthly Wilton Senior Dinners for the town's elderly, coordinating volunteers to cook meals and working with the Wilton Town Hall Theater to show classic movies, to the seniors' delight.
Deb worked for several years at Florence Rideout Elementary School in Wilton, where she was an aid for students with special needs. In 2009, she started working as an Emergency Room receptionist at Monadnock Community Hospital. She made many lifelong friends and lasting connections with the people who worked at each place.
Deb cherished time with her family. She enjoyed spending time in the yard of their home in Wilton, and she specifically took pleasure in the sights and sounds of the Souhegan River in the family's backyard. Deb, her husband, and her children enjoyed trips locally and beyond; they spent time in northern New Hampshire, at the lakes in Central Massachusetts, on the shore of Cape Cod, and recently visited Niagara Falls for the first time.
In addition to leaving behind many close friends in Wilton, the Monadnock area, and in Massachusetts, Deb is survived by a large and loving family. Family members include her husband of 35 years, Mark Ducharme, of Wilton; one daughter, Caitlin Ducharme and her fiancé Phil DiMartino, of Quincy, MA.; three sons, Peter, Michael, and Matthew, of Wilton, NH. She also leaves behind many siblings: Beverly Flansburg and her husband Charles, Wendy Crossman and Richard Auger, Linda McDonnell, and Ellen Stand, all of Worcester County; Joseph Stand, of Florida; John Stand, of Maine; and Bonnie Riedl, of Arizona. She is also survived by considerable extended family that includes much-loved cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Deborah was predeceased by her parents and a brother, James Stand.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to the Open Cupboard Pantry, P.O. Box 513, Wilton, NH, 03086. Friends and family are warmly invited to calling hours to be held at the Michaud Funeral Home, 32 Maple Street, Wilton, NH on Saturday, January 19, 2013 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. a Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Monday January 21, 2013 at St. Mary's Church, 77 Mendon Street, Uxbridge, Mass. at 11 a.m. There will be light refreshments served @ Sacred Heart Church, Maple St, Wilton, on Sat. from 2-7 for all people attending Deb's calling hours.