Lucille A. Gauthier

MANCHESTER - Lucille Anne (LaCoursiere) Gauthier, 98, longtime resident of Franklin, Manchester, and Windham, passed away on Feb. 23, 2015, at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, surrounded by her loving family.

Lucille was born to Edouard and Lumina (Marceau) LaCoursiere on March 3, 1916, in Donnelly, Alberta, Canada. The fifth of nine children, she lived the first five years of her life in that isolated frontier region, learning to be an independent and daring person. The family left the large one-room log cabin built by Edouard and returned to the United States in 1922, settling on a farm Sanbornton. There, she attended a one-room schoolhouse where she distinguished herself in academics. Through the generosity of a parish priest and a work-study program, she attended Mount Saint Mary Seminary in Hooksett. It was there that she discovered her true passion, art. She graduated valedictorian of her class in 1933 with highest honors for four years. She was also captain of the softball, basketball, and track teams. Continuing her education in art, she then attended and graduated from the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Mass., with a degree in commercial art. During 1937 and 1938, she was a proud participant of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a project preserving American artifacts in watercolor art form for the "Index of American Design." Her work has since been exhibited and archived at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., as well as published in the "Treasure of American Design." In 1939, she married her beloved husband, Peter Andrew Gauthier, in Franklin, where they raised their five children. She worked as an operator for New England Telephone before retiring to Manchester and Windham. Lucille pursued her love of watercolor throughout her life, still painting even at age 98.

Lucille is survived by her sister, Claire Kelly Ruotolo of Connecticut; son George and his wife, Gretchen of Connecticut, and their children Pamela, Mark, Lisa, Luke, and Sarah; her daughter, Andrea Morin and her husband, Gerard of Concord, and their children Daniel, Angela and Brian; her daughter, Rosalind Prizio and her husband, Theodore of Windham, and their children Theodore, Kathryn, and Martha; her son, Peter E. Gauthier of Manchester and his daughters, Adrienne and Chantal. She was predeceased by her husband and her son, Rev. Mark O. Gauthier of the Diocese of Manchester. She will also be missed by her great-grandchildren, Rebecca, Matthew, and Julia Cornell; Ethan and Ian Gauthier; Jack Miceli; and Jayden and Sarah Morin; as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins.

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services: Visiting hours will be Sunday, March 1, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Thibault-Neun Funeral Home, 143 Franklin St. in Franklin. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 2, at St. Paul's Church of St. Gabriel's Parish, 110 School St., in Franklin. A reception to follow. A celebration of Lucille's life will be planned to coincide with a spring burial at Holy Cross Cemetery in Franklin.Donations in her memory may be made to Disabled American Vets. For directions and an online guestbook, go to www.neunfuneralhomes.com.