Obituary of Margaret Boudreau

Margaret M. “Peggy” Boudreau of Burlington, Oct. 18 Beloved Companion of 63 years of Donald Chisholm of Medford. Loving sister of Valerie Boudreau of Burlington and the late Vivian Cotreau. Proud aunt of Susan Mellace & her husband Tony of Marlborough, Carol Archambault & her husband Steven of Lunenburg, Stan Cotreau & his wife Nancy of Billerica, Mark Cotreau & his wife Priscilla of Lunenburg, Paula Morrison & her husband Robert of Middleton, David Cotreau of Burlington and the late Stephen Cotreau. Also survived by many great nieces, great nephews and great great nieces and nephews. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 9 am. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 AM Visiting hours Wednesday from 4-7:30 pm Interment in Pine Haven Cemetery, Burlington. In memory of Peggy’s love for children memorials may be made to UNICEF, US Fund for UNICEF, 126 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038 www.unicefusa.org/giving “Stan’s Words of Remembrance” Good morning, I’m Stan, one of Peg’s nephews. It seems fitting to be here in this church reminiscing about her because, one of the things our aunt did regularly was to attend 12 o’clock mass here at St. Margaret’s every week, rain or shine…. And if you wanted her attention on a Sunday you could certainly have it ……. After mass….. Okay, sometimes you had to wait until brunch was over as well. The process of writing this brought back so many memories of days past that it was hard to sort through them all. How do you condense these memories into 5 minutes time? You see my siblings and I were Peg’s only nieces and nephews, so we got ALL of her attention, and sometimes, if she wasn’t pleased with what you were doing you didn’t want quite so much of that attention. One such memory sticks out in my mind. I was trying to save money to buy hiking boots for an upcoming camping trip, Peg found out about this and tried to give me the money to buy them. My mother promptly told her that I had to earn the money for the boots, so Peg rolled her eyes ….. As only she could …….. And brought me to her house where I washed her car and received enough cash for my boots …. And a compass …. And a walking stick …. And quite possibly I could have bought a new tent! Another thing she did was to take us all out for dinner, individually, or in pairs to a really nice restaurant for a lavish meal, she taught us how to behave in upscale restaurants, and in my case there were several lessons on manners. Years later when I had my own family I watched as she packed my children into her car for lunch at the café escadrille, there she was … continuing the tradition. This was Peg. There was nothing she would not do to help us. She was a very driven woman who found much success in the business world, working as an executive with the phone company at a time when there really were not many women executives. Peg met Don, her companion of 60 plus years, during their time at Tufts University…… I really don’t think there were too many reunions, or homecoming football games they missed since their graduation. They traveled the world together; I swear they were planning their next adventure on the plane ride home from their latest adventure. They truly were inseparable. Their travels took them from Africa to New Zealand to Antarctica and everyplace in between. Spending time riding elephants, panning for gold, playing with the children in a village in some corner of the world, it was all part of her life’s adventure. Traveling is something she did until she just could not physically and mentally do it anymore. Traveling with Don made her happy. ………. as children we always looked forward to seeing her return from her travels because we knew she would bring us some sort of trinket from wherever she had been. Recently, as one of my sons was thinking about Peg, I was pleased to hear that he too always looked forward to her post trip visits for the very same reason. Peg never disappointed, the kids were always remembered upon her return. As her time was getting close and she was getting harder to engage in conversation I would simply ask her to tell me about her travels and she would brighten up and tell me story after story. Peg always had style; she always wore holiday socks at the holidays, she had the fur coat… with matching fur boots. She had her emerald ring, and she always drove a convertible. Sometimes when she would come by we’d all load in and we would go for a ride with the top down…. Occasionally, it took some begging on our part, but she would always oblige and the top would come down. Alzheimers is a sickness that robs people of their memory, their interests and most of what they hold dear. In Pegs case there was much frustration as she struggled to understand her confusion. Throughout the progression of her illness my sister Susan took care of Pegs every need. She managed both her finances and her healthcare and made certain our Aunt had everything she needed. Susan, thank you for your kindness and the attention you gave to Peg. Our aunt would have wanted everyone to remember her not as she was at the end of her days but rather as the caring, driven, successful, stylish traveler that she was ….. I know that’s how I will remember her. Godspeed AP