Mary "Bobbe" Delaware

Mary (Lessard) Delaware, age 90, passed away at home on Monday, August 13, 2012, while embraced by her husband and children.
Mary, known by family and friends as Bobbe, was born on July 8, 1922, the daughter of William A. and Cecile (Poirier) Lessard. She was the youngest of 12 children. She is predeceased by her brothers, Roderick, Leo, Andrew, Raymond, Wilfred and Norman Lessard and her sisters, Valeda Lessard, Adeline Muller, Rita Seavey, Jeannette McCarthy, and Violet Lessard.
Bobbe leaves her husband Warren, and her three children Kim Delaware Larkin, Randall Delaware, and Jeffrey Delaware, and her beloved grandchildren, Benjamin Delaware, Hannah Delaware, Matthew Larkin, and Kyra Larkin. She is also survived by her son-in-law, Robert G. Larkin, Jr., and her daughter-in-law, Tracy Sanborn Delaware, and a large extended family.
Bobbe attended Dracut Public Schools, graduating from Dracut High School in 1940. She went on to attend Lowell Commercial College and Academie Moderne, a Boston finishing school.
In the 1940's, Bobbe worked as a clerk typist at Marlin-Rockwell in Plainville, CT, Textron in Lowell, MA, the Foreign Economic Administration (Intelligence Division) in Washington, DC, and the Air Technical Service Command in Boston, MA.
Bobbe was an accomplished and well-known dancer. During World War II, she performed with the USO at Fort Devens. Later, she established the School of the Dance in Lowell teaching ballet, toe, tap, ballroom dance, and acrobatics. At the Conservatory School of Dancing and Music in Somerville, MA she taught dance and produced recitals. She also taught dance and produced recitals at the School for the Under-Privileged Children in Boston.
In May of 1947, Bobbe earned her pilot's license. She was a member of the Merrimack Valley Pilot's Association and flew out of Dracut's Richardson Airport.
In the 1950's Bobbe was employed at Western Electric in North Andover for five years. It was while working there that she would meet Warren, her husband of 55 years.
Bobbe enjoyed taking art lessons and produced many paintings which adorn the walls of her home and were also given as gifts to others.
She will be dearly missed by family and friends.