Lucille (Blanchette) Hamel, age 86, passed away on February 18, 2015. Born and raised in Methuen, MA, on November 23, 1928, where she and her husband of 64 years, Alfred Hamel, raised nine children until she moved to Florida in 2012. She was retired from Lucent Technologies, and she used that time to expand on her many passions, including gardening, travelling in the United States and Europe, and spending time in her back yard barbequing and swimming with her many grandchildren. She was vivacious in her gardening, turning a field of weeds into a beautiful landscape. Her flower beds and vegetable patches were enjoyed by many. She was a beloved wife, sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother. Many summers were spent traveling in caravans of cars filled to the brim with food, towels, relatives, and children in route to the White Mountains for day outings, all planned and prepared by Lucille. On other days, she could be found in her backyard challenging family to a game of croquette. She was inexhaustible of energy, but found reading at the end of the day a sacred joy.
She is pre-deceased by her husband, Alfred Hamel. She is survived by her nine children: Linda (Louis) Smith, Catherine (Walter) Michaels, Sheila (Robert) Baker, Douglas (Kathy) Hamel, Jack (Debra) Hamel, Shirley (Scott) Leavitt, Cynthia (Forrest) Pettengill, Roy (Jean) Hamel, Leslie (Mark) Fallisi, 29 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren, 3 brothers, one sister, and many nieces and nephews. She is sadly missed by all.
Visiting hours for family and friends will be Thursday July 30, 2015 from 6:00p.m. - 8:00p.m. at the Kenneth H. Pollard Funeral Home, Inc., 233 Lawrence Street Methuen, MA 01844. A Funeral Mass will be held in St Lucy’s Catholic Church in Methuen, MA on July 31, 2015 at 11 a.m. Friends and family are asked to make donations to the Alzheimer’s’ Foundation or Hospice in lieu of flowers.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Kenneth H. Pollard Funeral Home, Inc. 233 Lawrence Street Methuen, MA 01844