FRANKFORT – Viola “Vi” Ann (Blethen) Thibodeau, known lovingly by many as “Muzzy” after the births of her grandchildren, 88, passed peacefully to her Lord, September 12, 2016, at a local nursing home surrounded by family. She was born November 13, 1927, in Hampden, the daughter of Oscar and Virginia David (Powell) Blethen.
Vi came to Frankfort in 1936 with her mother and younger brother, David, after her father passed away. She graduated from Winterport High School in 1945. On September 30, 1946, Vi married the love of her life, Reno, otherwise known to many as “Puzzy”. Much of Vi’s life centered around her husband and St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church. During the war years, Vi worked as a waitress at the Brountas Restaurant in Bangor. Later, she became a bookkeeper and a secretary, and she helped her husband run the family business.
Vi and Reno lived a love filled life together for nearly 67 years. They were devoted to one another and to their seven children. Throughout Vi’s life, she filled many roles besides wife and mother. She was a member of the Daughters of Isabella and served as a Eucharistic minister and Lector with her husband at their church. She was a round dance cuer, belonged to various square dance clubs with her husband, and once upon a time even taught herself to tap dance. Vi loved to read, sew, and knit. She sang in her church choir with her husband and played the piano. Due to her father’s love for music and her love for her father, Vi made sure her children grew up in a house filled with music. All six of her surviving children played the piano.
Vi is survived by six of her seven children, Vaughn and wife, Frances, of Winterport, Susanne Baumgardner and husband, Richard “Mike,” of Prospect, Fern Mansell and husband, Timothy, of Winterport, Maria Thibodeau, of Winterport, Clifford and wife, Stacey, of Winterport, and Noël of Frankfort; 14 grandchildren; 10 step-grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; 3 step-great-grandchildren; and 5 great-great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews, cousins, and beloved pets. She was predeceased by her husband, Reno; infant son, Thomas Nolan; parents, Oscar and Virginia; brother, David and his wife Carolyn; beloved uncle, Clifford Anderson; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Relatives and friends are welcome to call from 5-7:00 p.m. Friday September 16, 2016 at the Hampden-Gilpatrick Chapel of Brookings-Smith, 45 Western Ave., Hampden. A funeral Mass will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday September 17, 2016 at the St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, 435 South Main St., Winterport followed by the Rite of Committal at Oak Hill Cemetery, Winterport. Memorial donations can be made in Vi’s memory to the Shepherd’s Godparent Home, PO Box 616, Bangor, Maine, 04402. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com.
Vi came to Frankfort in 1936 with her mother and younger brother, David, after her father passed away. She graduated from Winterport High School in 1945. On September 30, 1946, Vi married the love of her life, Reno, otherwise known to many as “Puzzy”. Much of Vi’s life centered around her husband and St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church. During the war years, Vi worked as a waitress at the Brountas Restaurant in Bangor. Later, she became a bookkeeper and a secretary, and she helped her husband run the family business.
Vi and Reno lived a love filled life together for nearly 67 years. They were devoted to one another and to their seven children. Throughout Vi’s life, she filled many roles besides wife and mother. She was a member of the Daughters of Isabella and served as a Eucharistic minister and Lector with her husband at their church. She was a round dance cuer, belonged to various square dance clubs with her husband, and once upon a time even taught herself to tap dance. Vi loved to read, sew, and knit. She sang in her church choir with her husband and played the piano. Due to her father’s love for music and her love for her father, Vi made sure her children grew up in a house filled with music. All six of her surviving children played the piano.
Vi is survived by six of her seven children, Vaughn and wife, Frances, of Winterport, Susanne Baumgardner and husband, Richard “Mike,” of Prospect, Fern Mansell and husband, Timothy, of Winterport, Maria Thibodeau, of Winterport, Clifford and wife, Stacey, of Winterport, and Noël of Frankfort; 14 grandchildren; 10 step-grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; 3 step-great-grandchildren; and 5 great-great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews, cousins, and beloved pets. She was predeceased by her husband, Reno; infant son, Thomas Nolan; parents, Oscar and Virginia; brother, David and his wife Carolyn; beloved uncle, Clifford Anderson; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Relatives and friends are welcome to call from 5-7:00 p.m. Friday September 16, 2016 at the Hampden-Gilpatrick Chapel of Brookings-Smith, 45 Western Ave., Hampden. A funeral Mass will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday September 17, 2016 at the St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, 435 South Main St., Winterport followed by the Rite of Committal at Oak Hill Cemetery, Winterport. Memorial donations can be made in Vi’s memory to the Shepherd’s Godparent Home, PO Box 616, Bangor, Maine, 04402. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com.
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