FORT KENT – It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved matriach, Bernice Josephine (Nicknair) Ouellette, Oct. 7, 2011. She was the widow of Patrick Joseph “PJ” Ouellette, who died Oct. 12, 1991. Bernice, the eldest daughter of the late Frederick and Cecile (Labbe) Nicknair, was born Nov. 21, 1921, in Wallagrass.
The family moved to Eagle Lake, where she received her elementary education. Bernice, a graduate from Madawaska Training School, Fort Kent – now the University of Maine at Fort Kent – in 1940, was a member of Royal Neighbors of America. She married her beloved Patrick, April 27, 1944, at Saint Mary’s Church, Eagle Lake. Bernice began her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse on Sly Brook Road, Eagle Lake. She was an elementary instructor in Fort Kent and Soldier Pond for more than 30 years, retiring in 1980. She was a life member of Fort Kent State Teachers College, a member of Maine State Retired Teachers Association – Aroostook Chapter, and an alumni of the University of Maine at Fort Kent. She was a den mother for the Cub Scouts, and volunteered for Meals on Wheels, hospice, and at the Good Shepherd Shop, Fort Kent. Bernice was a loving, gentle and spiritual woman, a devote Catholic, and a communicant of St. Louis Church, where she also served as a Eucharistic minister, a CCD instructor and a member of Les Dames de Ste. Anne. In May of 1995, Mom was named Fort Kent’s Mother of Year. In November 2001, at her 80th birthday party, she was the recipient of the Paul Harris Award. In her retirement, Mom enjoyed going to the library to get novels, reading them within a few days, and keeping up with everyday news. That satisfied her drive to keep gaining and using her knowledge to retain her sharp mind. She very much enjoyed playing cards, especially Charlemagne, and also did a lot of crocheting and knitting for the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and the times she spent at the family camps on Eagle Lake and St. Froid Lake in Quimby. Mom had the opportunity and great pleasure to have toured the Holy Lands and Rome twice. Bernice was a loving and dedicated mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and sister. Mom strongly believed in our family unit and faith, a legacy she has left to all of us. Her unconditional love of family has kept and will continue to always keep us together.
She leaves to mourn her family of six daughters and sons-in-law, Jeanne and Dan Castonguay, Anne and Bruce Alexander, Lucie and Herb Oxton, all of Connecticut, Rita and Joe Saucier of Wallagrass, Violet and Leroy Bourgoin, and Linda Woodman of Fort Kent; three sons and daughters-in-law, Norman and Loanne Ouellette of Connecticut, Paul and Karen Ouellette of Fort Kent and Dan Ouellette and his spouse, Hal Resington, of Massachusetts; and 17 grandchildren, Beverly Hovey, Donna Braz, Dan Castonguay, Sonia Watts, Michelle Landry, Shawn Alexander, Steve Saucier, Kristen Hoglund, Ben, Reuben and Ginger Ouellette, Scott Bourgoin, Tanya Jandreau, Herbie Woodman, Jon, Aaron and Shane Oxton. Mom also had the pleasure of cherishing her 22 great-grandchildren, Matt and Alyssa Hovey, Cassandra, Cameron and Jacob Braz, Madison and Danica Castonguay, AJ, Conner and Katherine Watts, Brooke and Sarah Landry, Krista and Shawn Jr. Alexander, Brayden and Gavin Saucier, Ainsley and Adelyn Hogland, Nathan, Dylan and Morgan Bourgoin, and Tristen Jandreau. Bernice’s suriviving siblings are two brothers, Monseigneur Leopold Nicknair of Madawaska and the Rev. Donald Nicknair, OFM, of Montreal; two sisters, the Rev. Sister Jeanne D’Arc Nicknair of Long Island, N.Y., and Jacqueline Glennon of New Hampshire; five sisters-in-law, Lorette and Yolande Nicknair, the Rev. Sister Gloria Ouellette, Thelma Saucier and Cynthia Winters; several cousins, nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and beloved husband, she was predeceased by five brothers, the Rev. Bernard Nicknair, Armand, Gerald, Valere and Jean-Louis Nicknair; two sisters, the Rev. Sister Marie-Paule Nicknair, and her twin, Bernadette; and two grandsons, Larry and Jason Bourgoin. She will be missed by all who knew her. Thank you ever so much Mom for being you, and always being there for each and every one of us. No one will ever be able to fill the void you created in the hearts of your family and friends. Many thanks for your life of dedication, your compassion, your lessons, your sense of humor and your never-ending love for all of us. We will miss you. You will be an important part of us. May God bless you and keep you in his care, until we meet again. May he prepare us quiet times with you when we’ll see things clearly. Help us to hear your voices as you gently guide us here on earth. The family would like to give special thanks to the staff at Cross Winds, St. Joseph’s Nursing Home and Forest Hill, for the care our mom received while she was in their care.
Friends may call 6-8 p.m. Monday and 10-11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Daigle Funeral Home, Fort Kent. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated noon Tuesday at St. Louis Catholic Church, Fort Kent, with the Rev. Richard Ouellette, Jean Paul Labrie, and Monseigneur Leopold Nicknair officiating. Committal services will be afterward in the parish cemetery. Pallbearers are Daniel Castonguay, Bruce Alexander, Joe Saucier, Leroy Bourgoin, Herb Oxton and Hal Resington. In Mom’s memory, those who wish may donate to Visiting Nurses of Aroostook/Hospice of Aroostook, P.O. Box 688, Caribou, ME 04736 or The Edgar J. “Guy” Paradis Cancer Fund, Northern Maine Medical Center, 194 East Main St., Fort Kent, ME 04743. Envelopes are available at the funeral home.