Arlene Wilson

Arlene Wilson, 67, of Lancaster, passed away at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care after a long battle with cancer on July 13th, 2021, surrounded by her three daughters.

Arlene was born February 26, 1954, the daughter of Clyde and Nellie Douglass. She went to Spaulding High School in Rochester, NH, and then went on to study social work at the University of New Hampshire. Over the years, Arlene held many occupational roles including working as a banquet server for the Marriot in her twenties, and a software support specialist at the New Hampshire Insurance Agency in her thirties. Later in life, she delivered flowers for Riff Flower Shop, was the church secretary at the Lancaster Congregational UCC, and was a home health caregiver to many of the community's elderly and vulnerable. At the time of her death, Arlene worked for the North Country Home Health & Hospice Agency as a social worker, where she cared for the dying. At the same time, she bravely battled breast cancer, but she was driven by her passion for helping the vulnerable even in her time of sickness.

However, Arlene would say that her most significant role in life was that of a mother. She raised her three daughters with strength and conviction, demonstrating authentic leadership and passion for community and family. Arlene chaperoned countless field trips, attended all plays, concerts, and sporting events, went on college tours, and helped furnish new apartments to feel like home. She was an advocate and a cheerleader for her daughters every step of the journey, and to say that she will be greatly missed in their lives is an understatement. She was indeed the matriarch of her family.

Arlene was very active in her community. A woman of strong faith, she loved the Congregational church and its members like family. She was also an avid cook and looked forward to participating in the annual 'Soup and Chowder Fest' in Lancaster, often winning or placing in the top three, year after year. Through Home Health & Hospice, her patients gave her strength and filled her days with love as she cared for them in their end of life. She was also an animal lover and adopted several stray or elderly pets over the years, many through the Riverside Animal Rescue in Lunenburg, VT. She enjoyed fishing up at Cobb's Pierce Pond Camps in Maine and loved the ocean from growing up in Rochester, NH, where she frequently traveled to the beach in her youth. It was her dream to live by the ocean again.

Diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 2017; it quickly spread to her lymph nodes and metastasized in her bones, and ultimately her liver. She fought long and hard against it but eventually succumbed to the disease. She is survived by her three daughters, Brittany, Sayre, and Paige, her sister Linda Bhattacharya, and her brother David Douglass (Kay Douglass).

A service in memory of Arlene will be held on Saturday, July 24th at 10:00 AM at the Congregational UCC in Lancaster, NH, followed by a light lunch and coffee hour at the church.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Riverside Animal Rescue. Donations may be made online by clicking the "donate" button here: www.riversideanimalrescue.org/howtohelp. Checks may be sent to Riverside Rescue at 236 Riverside Ave, Lunenburg, VT 05906. We ask that you please indicate on the memo line or website that the donation is in honor of Arlene Wilson.