HOHENWALD, Tenn., and PORTAGE LAKE – Ora M. (Holmes) Plourde, 88, died peacefully Aug. 13, 2007, with her special daughter at her side at a Linden, Tenn., hospital after a brief illness. She was born July 4, 1919, at Portage Lake, the daughter of Prescott and Bessie (Wilcox) Holmes. She was educated in Portage schools and was a member of the Portage Lake Congregational Church. She mar-ried Lionel Plourde, January 1941 and they resided in Presque Isle, where he worked as a civil engineer and she was employed by Sears Roebuck. They relocated to Arizona, where he worked for McCulloch Chain Saws and she was employed as a campground activities director for several years. Wherever they went she established strong friendships. After their retirement, they traveled extensively across the country in their travel trailer and for a number of years wintered in Arizona. Ora loved life and everyone around her. She was a master when it came to tatting and knitting, hats were a specialty of hers and sold faster than she could make them. Her husband, Lionel, died one month after they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991. She returned to the east to be closer to her foster daughter, and in recent years had moved to Tennessee to be with her. She is survived by one son, Robert Plourde of West Richland, Wash.; a foster daughter, Charlotte Blair Bennett and her husband, Gary, of Hohenwald, Tenn.; two brothers, Judson Holmes and his wife, Hilda, of Santa Barbara, Calif., and John Holmes and his wife, Kathryn, of Las Vegas; one sister, Bessie “Sis” Blair McConnell and her husband, James, of Presque Isle; two grandsons, Chris Powers and Patrick Powers; and one great-grandson. She was predeceased by one sister, Glenna Cyr. A committal will be held in the family lot at Portage Lake Municipal Cemetery at a later date. Arrangements are a service of Stimson-Ouellette Funeral Home, 114 Exchange St., Ashland. To leave online condolences, please visit www.ouellettefuneralhome.com
ORA M. PLOURDE
