Lorna Catherine Menard

Lorna Catherine (MacLean) Menard, 75, of Cash Street Croydon, NH passed away Wednesday, Dec 28, 2005. Lorna was born in the village of Florence on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada on August 22, 1930 the daughter of Robert H. and Christina (MacNeil) MacLean. Lorna traveled to the United States in 1949 and worked as a governess and housekeeper in the Boston area. In 1951 Lorna married Renald G. Menard at Fort Belvoir in Alexandria, VA and they soon returned to the New England area, and then in 1952 they returned to Mr. Menard’s family’s hometown of North Newport where they settled in and raised their own family of five children. Lorna held many occupations over her lifetime but the ones she was most well known and remembered for was her mothering of not only her children but of the many others that happened along as well. With her family grown and moving on, Lorna turned to nursing others, and took great pride in her work as a nurses aid and worked in both public and private positions both in the US and Canada. In her mid and later years she continued to help others, and held numerous nursing and eldercare positions in the area notably with the Clough Extended Care Center in New London, the Visiting Nurses Groups and as well as being a Foster Grandmother in the Newport area School District and at Cinnamon Street day Care in Newport. In recent years she has worked as a peer support helper at The Arbor View Home in Newport. Lorna was a member of the Episcopal Church of The Epiphany of Newport since 1962 and also enjoyed writing poems and verses for her friends, family and the church. Lorna’s writings have been published and she was thanked and received praise from President George W. Bush for her creative writing that he enjoyed. Lorna is predeceased by her former husband Renald G. Menard, her parents Robert and Christina MacLean, four brothers Augustus, Kenneth, Malcolm, and Donald as well as three sisters, Christina MacLean, Hectorina MacLean and Marguerite Lydiard. Lorna is survived by her children, Howard R. Menard of Lake Helen, Fl and his former wife Donna Chartier Menard of North Newport, NH, Norma Menard-Bard and Joey Bard of Croydon, NH, Alex and Joanne Menard of Sunapee, Alan and Heide Hubert Menard of Sunapee, and Donald and Amber Gonyea Menard of Claremont, NH. Her sister’s, Robina Crooks of Lake Echo, Nova Scotia, Canada, Christena Allen and Sylvia Dolomont of North Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, Beryl Higgins of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, and one brother, Carleton MacLean of Gaetz Brook, Nova Scotia, Canada as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins throughout the Canadian providences and the US. Lorna also leaves seventeen grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. Services will be held 1:00 p.m., Saturday, December, 31 2005 at the Episcopal Church Of the Epiphany, Cheney Street, Newport, NH. Graveside internment services will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Episcopal Church of Epiphany, Cheney Street, Newport, NH 03773 or to the American Heart Association, 2 Wall Street, Manchester, NH 03101.