Paulette J. (Marquis) St. Arnaud

Paulette J. St. Arnaud, 90, a lifelong resident of Lowell, died October 28th, 2016 and was laid to rest in a private ceremony on November 1st. She was the beloved wife of the late Roland St. Arnaud who died in 1987. She spent the majority of her life tending to the needs of her home and family. She leaves 3 children and their spouses, 4 grandchildren and their spouses, one great grandchild and 2 sisters who will all miss her dearly.

Paulette was born in Lowell in 1926 and grew up during the Depression era. Although lacking in material possessions, her family was rich in love. Her sisters were her best friends. She did not begrudge having to share a bed with them, but rather enjoyed it. She fondly remembered Christmases when she received a lone doll as a gift. Her wonderful mother sewed clothes for all nine children and handed that skill onto Paulette. The great flood of 1936 nearly forced the family to evacuate. Their home was just steps from the Merrimack, and Paulette recalled being 10-years-old and watching an entire house be carried downstream in the current.
A serious illness in the 9th grade forced Paulette out of school, and she did not go back – a regret she confided later in life. She was, nevertheless, smart as a whip. A gifted speller and a whiz with numbers, she put her craftiness to use working in her father's market for years thereafter.
Roland St. Arnaud was a local boy who won Paulette's affections with his brilliance, sense of humor, and work ethic. They were married in 1948 after he returned from serving in WWII. They lived in a cold-water flat on Cheever St. until 1956 when they purchased the house on Lilley Ave. They put a lot of work into the house, raised their family there, and Paulette would call it home for all of her life.
Paulette and Roland had many happy times together, tempered and abbreviated though they were by his deteriorating health. She was no stranger to tough times, though, and she demonstrated remarkable resilience and strength by stabilizing the home as much as possible for her children. She drew strength from her Faith, which was always important to her, and never showed signs of wavering from it. She also drew strength from family. Her sisters would often join her for shopping expeditions – Paulette was, after all, an adept bargain hunter-- where they could be overheard speaking excitedly in French. And she was endlessly proud of her children, and enjoyed so much helping raise her four grandchildren.
Paulette was full of so much warmth and goodness, in a way that really affected those whose lives she touched. Even a stranger on the street or the clerk at the store could sense it, and would share snippets of a life story in the briefest of encounters. She arrived to family gatherings and holidays with an infectious, almost child-like joy. Her grandchildren remember being spoiled with garbage bags full of toys on Christmas, and everyone remembers being spoiled with her pastries that rivaled the best bakeries in town.
In July of this year, Paulette celebrated her 90th birthday. Her two living sisters teased her that she had won the family prize for longevity. She smiled and beamed. In her later years, the indignities of her dementia did little to thwart her goodness and sense of humor. If you drew her attention to something she'd forgotten , she'd reply, "Hey I'm old, what do you expect?" She often burst out-of-the-blue into a funny French song, unearthed from some distant memory. During her increasingly frequent trips to the hospital, she saw past her own suffering to tell the nurses that they were working too hard and that they should sit down and rest beside her.

All this is to say that Paulette will be remembered as much for her warmth, kindness, and unconditional love as for her strength and resilience. Drawing on 90 years of life experience, she could have found many reasons to be disgruntled; instead, she radiated only love. And she was much loved in return.