Jeannette C. Landry
1917 – 2009

LEWISTON — Jeannette C. Landry, 92, of Lewiston, passed away peacefully, in her sleep on Thursday, Nov. 26. She had lived at Montello Manor since August.

She was the youngest daughter of Ernest and Amanda (Fortier) Gagnon. She was born in Lewiston on June 24, 1917. She attended local schools and graduated from Bliss Business College. Her first employment was working for the Ricker family at Poland Spring Hotel, where she boarded during the week and returned home on the weekends.

When she married in 1955, she was employed as the secretary to the chief of police for the city of Lewiston, which is how she met her husband, George. On Feb. 12, 1955, she married George J. Maher, who was the director of Lewiston Public Works. During their marriage, she was a homemaker and cared for her mother-in-law, who lived with them. She also cared for her aging father who by that time was a widower.

During their marriage, they purchased acreage off College Street and Montello Street in Lewiston, which they developed into an area known as Algonquin Park. Today many attractive homes and a beautiful neighborhood abounds. When George retired from the Public Works in 1965, they traveled the United States and Canada in their Air Stream travel trailer. Eventually, they settled in Pompano Beach, Fla., for the winter months, always returning to Maine for the summer. He passed away in August 1976.

She later sold her house on Champlain Avenue and moved to Colonial Way at Edgewood Condominiums in Auburn. She continued her trips to Pompano Beach for the winter months and returned to Maine from May to October. She was married to Gerry Landry in 1982 in Rhode Island, but it was a brief union when Gerry became ill and soon passed away.

She married for the final time on June 10, 2000 to Raymond Bennett of Radcliff, Ky. They later moved to Fort Myers, Fla., as full time residents. Ray passed away in December 2005. She remained in Florida until May 2006, when she returned to her native state and settled in Auburn to be closer to family and friends. She lived at Schooner Estates until August. She had resided at Montello Manor since August.

She made lifelong friends when she worked for the city of Lewiston. She enjoyed jaunts to Peaks Island to visit her friends Monique and Claire. She was quite the competitive cribbage and pinochle player and for many years enjoyed those weekly games with Kim and Dick. She delighted in visiting her nieces, Michelle and Patricia and their families. Both times she managed to travel to Oxford for Thanksgiving dinner were special for all. She enjoyed a home cooked meal, Taber’s at Lake Auburn and Wallingford’s in the fall for an apple dumpling with ice cream.

She played golf for many years and followed the tournaments on television. She was a very smart and intelligent woman who cherished her independence. When she passed away it was with the same dignity and grace she had lived her life.

She will be dearly missed by her nieces, Michelle McDonough of Topsham and Pat Perkins of Oxford; her dear friends, Dick and Kim Ryder of Lewiston, Monique Levesque and Claire Filliettaz of Peaks Island, as well as Blanche Murray of Augusta.

In addition to her parents and husbands, she was predeceased by her brother, Leodore O. Gagnon; sister, Annette Cinquino; and her sister-in-law, Edna S. Gagnon.

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Schooner Estates and to Montello Manor for their expert care and compassion toward Jeannette. We will always be very grateful for the hospice comfort care given to her in her final days on earth.