Virginia M. Gagne
NAPLES, Fla. – Virginia M. Gagne, 96, of Naples Fla., passed peacefully with her loving family by her side on March 6, 2022.
She was born on April 12, 1925 in Old Town, the daughter of Francis and Claudia Richard, also the stepdaughter of her adoptive parents, Israel and Amelia Paradis of Lewiston. Virginia graduated from Lewiston High in 1944 then started her career as a secretary in the mill offices in Lewiston.
In 1946 she married Raymond Gagne of Lewiston. They were married for 70 years until his death in 2016 and lived in Auburn in their house for 60 years.
She leaves behind their children Linda Cohen (Jim Burger), Richard Gagne, and Debra Wood (John); her grandchildren Lee Cohen (predeceased), Robert Cohen (Kelly), Derek Wood (Joanna), Andrea Wood Theriault (Lucas); her great-grandchildren Max Cohen, Charlotte Virginia Theriault, and Daisy Wood. Virginia was very close to her many nieces and nephews.
Once their kids were all in school, she resumed her secretarial career working at the offices of UFCW for 17 years. Virginia was a devout Catholic and a member of St Peter’s and Paul’s, Sacred Heart, and St Phillips Churches. She was very involved in her community (Auburn), as an active member of Prospect Hill Golf Course, Robin Dow Seniors, and the Women’s Literary Society. She was a soprano choir member for 20 years in the Maine Music Society’s Androscoggin Choral Group and sang solos at many weddings, funerals, and local functions.
She was also very involved in her children’s and grandchildren’s lives. When she wasn’t with them, she was skiing, golfing, playing the piano, singing, bowling, painting, reading or crocheting. At the age of 87, Virginia and Ray moved from Maine to a senior community in Naples, Fla. to be closer to their three children. She remained quite active in the Naples community by organizing weekly Cribbage games, joining in a Senior Putting League, and continued to sing, paint, play piano, and act in an annual Cabaret show. She was an inspiration to her family and all that knew her.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday June 22 at 10 a.m. in the upstairs main church at The Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul in Lewiston. Committal Gracelawn Memorial Park. To leave a message in the family’s online guestbook, please visit http://www.thefortingrouplewiston.com
A service of The Fortin Group Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 70 Horton St., Lewiston, 784-4584