Monique R. (Lajoie) Coutu

Lowell – Monique R. (Lajoie) Coutu, widow of Raymond E. Coutu, a resident of Lowell, died peacefully on Monday April 25, 2011 with her family by her side. She was 92.
Monique was born in Lowell on February 27, 1919, a daughter of the late Emile and Rose (Chalifoux) Lajoie.
She was educated in the Lowell schools and enlisted in the Navy during WWII serving with the WAVES. While serving in the Navy, Monique was stationed at the Pentagon handling classified information. Because of this she was the first person at the Pentagon to know that WWII had ended.
Prior to her retirement Monique worked with her husband at Centralville Oil handling all of the bookkeeping. She also had her own tax preparation business and later worked as a real estate agent for Century 21 in Chelmsford.
Monique enjoyed traveling and her trips to Foxwoods. She cherished time spent with family, especially family gatherings. Monique treasured her grandchildren. She would have New Year’s Eve parties with them and would take them to Hampton Beach for a week during the summer.
She was a communicant of the former St. Louis de France Parish and recently Ste. Marguerite D’Youville Parish.
Monique held membership in the Centralville Senior Citizen Club, the D’Youville Manor Ladies Guild, and volunteered at Community Teamwork Inc., for many years.
Her family would like to thank the staff at D’Youville Senior Care for the care and compassion shown to Monique and her family throughout the last few years.
Survivors include a daughter and son in law Rachel and Frank Antifonario of Dracut; a daughter in law Shirley Coutu of Tyngsboro; five grandchildren, Michael, Matthew, and Mark Coutu, Tina Kelly, Scott and Keith Antifonario; five great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. She was the mother of the late Maurice E. Coutu and sister of the late Robert Lajoie.