Lorraine B Valentine
Lorraine Valentine (July 23, 1930 - October 21, 2023)
Lorraine Barbara (Lessard) Valentine passed peacefully on October 21, 2023, surrounded in the love of her family and the care of the hospice team at Gosnell House in Scarborough, Maine. Lorraine was born in Springfield, Massachusetts where she attended Commerce High School and met and married the love of her life, Joseph Valentine, her husband of 42 years. The couple purchased a small plot of land in the suburb of Wilbraham, Massachusetts where they built the family house, stone by stone, over the course of 5 years. The Wilbraham home is where they raised their six children (Judith, Carolyn, Joel, Carla, Amy and Sara) and where Lorraine enjoyed her many hobbies: rug-braiding, sewing, embroidery, knitting, picture framing, letter writing, and baking, among others. Her “hermit cookies” were the staple of many care packages. She won awards
for her apple pies with homemade crusts, and her delicious wild Maine blueberry pies, cheesecakes and breads graced many holiday dinners.
After Joseph’s unexpected passing in 1994, Lorraine relocated to Maine where she would, over the years, care for two golden retrievers (Chaucer and Leo) and take pleasure in beach-combing for shells and driftwood, attending yard-sales, and treating herself to maple sugar candies and fish dinners at Ken’s Seafood Restaurant. Always willing to lend a hand, she took on the job of tending the family’s small flock of chickens. Her love of simple pleasures also included collecting and refreshing stuffed bears and dolls, and she loved images and items featuring sheep.~
Though her primary role throughout her life was Devoted Wife, Mother and Grandma, she also ventured into the world of work outside the home; in Springfield, her first job was with the phone company, then shop assistant at the Junior League Budget Box thrift store;~ office assistant at a local Maine senior services program and sales clerk at Macy’s. She also taught workshops on how-to-braid rugs, donating her own supplies of wool-wheels assembled from repurposed wool skirts and pants found at thrift stores that she would take apart, cut into strips, sew together and patiently wind into wool-wheels, ready to braid. Many nights, she would sit and braid while watching tv; she has left her family a tremendous amount of wool braid which will eventually need to be laced into rugs.~
She took much joy in the accomplishments of her six grandchildren (Joe, Andrea, Michael, Noble, Autumn and Rockwell) and was especially delighted to more recently welcome three great-grandchildren (Riley, Aurora and Mason). She enjoyed her role as “Grammy Sew-Sew” for her granddaughter’s Girl Scout troop, and made annual appearances at Christmas time at the local Arts Alliance, giving out cookies and candies to the young children as “Mrs. Claus’s Friend.”~
In her last year, she was the adopted companion of the family cat, Louie, who loved “sitting with Grammy.” Truly a New Englander, Lorraine was incredibly resourceful and creative, finding ways to incorporate odds and ends into her many projects and crafts. A life long learner, she loved reading books, especially biographies, and was known to acquire cookbooks, sewing patterns, and how-to manuals of all kinds. She had an incredible eye for color and pattern as exhibited in her home decorating and crafts, an impeccable sense of style that was present in her personal attire, and a nose for finding an exceptional bargain. Somewhat private and reserved, she was content to watch the morning Catholic mass on television, and had a devotion to the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and St. Francis of Assisi. She was a fan of PBS Masterpiece programming,
Lawrence Welk, and movies and musicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood (especially anything starring Gregory Peck).~ She will be deeply missed.~
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Lorraine’s name to your local hospice, your local ASPCA, or the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
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