Leonore E Barrett

Kittery, ME - Leonore E Barrett passed away at her home on Feb. 4 surrounded by her loving family.

She was born on  August 6, 1940 to Hannah (Groves) and Joseph P Gabree.  She was the second youngest of their eight children.  Helen, Joseph P,  Barbara, Pauline, Edward, Alfred, Aurilla and Susan.

Leonore was the wife of the late William "Bill" Theberge who passed away in July of 1998, and the wife of the late Robert F Barrett who passed away in June of 2016.  She is predeceased by her beloved daughter Julie (Theberge) McLean who passed away in July of 2022.

She graduated from Pentucket High School 1959.  Leonore worked many jobs throughout her lifetime to help support her family because family was her everything. Memories of her and her sister Paulie, working side by side at Country River together making tables or at the Nuke plant in Seabrook.  She also worked at Osram Sylvania on Boston street in Salem, MA with her husband Bill for many years.

     Her grandchildren and great grandchildren were always sources of joy for her and their visits would make her face light up with one of her smiles.  She never failed to ask after them and always had a "give them my love' or "make sure you tell them Nana loves them;"as a visit neared its end.

     She was a warm, generous, loving and supportive mother who had enough love for the many others that came through her door and her home was always kept clean and neat no matter what.  She left every home we ever moved from totally spotless for the new owners, because "they shouldn't have to spend all day moving and then have to clean the house." 

     She was an excellent cook.  Scallops wrapped in bacon, fruit filled turnovers, cinnamon rolls, Christmas cookies, chicken wings and homemade dinner rolls were holiday staples and a treat anytime.  Her recipes, although handed down and followed precisely, are just not quite the same without her touch.

     Leonore had an eye for decorating.  If she saw something in a magazine she could set down and make it, be it wood or cloth.  She made large pine cone wreaths, lacquered and decorated, from the cones her children gathered from the woods. She was skilled at wallpapering and her meticulous attention to detail required to do it right was passed down to her children, who used it to build successful businesses.  With her husband Bill, she painted and remodeled all of our homes growing up.  Her eye for the best, or the right piece, was never wrong.  She loved going to auctions with her father, Joe, and many of their purchases grace her children's and grand children's homes.  

     In the end she was happy at home with the company of family and she was content watching her many birds at the feeder.  

Leonore is survived by her three remaining children, Mark and his wife Alison of Kingston, NH, William and his wife Kim of North Waterboro, ME and Diana and her fiance Emily of Kittery, ME.

Her 11 grandchildren, Hannah, Michael, "New" Mark, Abigail, Jonah, Juliet, Joseph, Melinda, Michael, Corina and Kennedy and her 7 Great grandchildren Jackson, Logan, Carson, Juniper, Gabriel, Miles and Vincent.

Services will be for family only at the EV Jutras funeral home on Friday Feb 13, at 10:30 am.   She will be laid to rest in the spring at Locust Grove cemetery in Merrimac, MA

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