HOLDEN – Margaret “Peggy” (McNeil) Lafontaine, 87, left this world April 18, 2011, surrounded by family members, after an illness. She was born Sept. 15, 1923, in Bangor, daughter of the late Stephen and Margaret McNeil.
She graduated from John Bapst High School, Bangor, and received her nursing degree from Sister’s Hospital, Waterville, and later her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from St. Joseph’s College, Standish. She began working in Bristol, Conn., where she met her husband, Fernand Lafontaine, who survives her. She worked as an occupational health nurse at the Peter Paul Co., Naugatuck, Conn., until her retirement. She and her husband moved to Holden 10 years ago to be closer to their camp on Phillips Lake. She loved to read, going to the library was one of her favorite activities, and she required a daily newspaper even while in the hospital. She enjoyed traveling, her favorite trips being Nova Scotia with her sisters, Ireland with her husband, Germany to visit her daughter and Japan to visit her granddaughter. Peggy was a feisty lady with a quick wit that everyone, even her nurses, appreciated.
In addition to her husband, she leaves two daughters, Donna LaMadeleine and her husband, Emile, of Northborough, Mass., and Cynthia Bowden of Lewisburg, Pa.; grandchildren, Bonnie Lee LaMadeleine and her husband, Jean-Francois Chenier, of Los Angeles, Paul LaMadeleine and his wife, Felice “Randi,” of Chelmsford, Mass., Amber Knowlton of Brighton, Mass., and Eric Knowlton of Bangor; great-grandchildren, Alexandra and Benjamin of Chelmsford, Mass.; sisters, Catherine Fessenden of Bangor and Sarah McNeil of Portland; brother, Stephen McNeil of West Haven, Conn.; sister in-law, Doris Maroney and her husband, John, of Naugatuck, Conn.; numerous nieces and nephews.
At her request a memorial Mass will be held at a later date. Gifts in her name may be made to National MS Society, P.O. Box 4527, New York, NY 10163 or Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, P.O. Box 10426, Uniondale, NY 11555. A service of Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor. Condolences to the family may be expressed at
www.BrookingsSmith.com.