Alice Gagne, SGM Sr. Alice Gagne, SGM (92) died on July 12, 2011 at Maristhill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Waltham, MA. She had been a Grey Nun for 70 years. Alice was born in St. Patrice, Quebec, Canada November 2, 1918 and later moved to Woonsocket, RI with her family, becoming an American citizen in 1941. Her parents were Francois Gagne and Adeline (Dumont) Gagne both of St. Patrice. Alice was the 10th child of a happy family of 13. Five of the girls would eventually become Grey Nuns: Claire, Germaine, Gilberte, Alice and Henrietta. They remained close to each other and to their loving family, Alice surviving all her siblings. Alice entered the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, Grey Nuns in 1938 in Cambridge, MA, pronouncing her vows in 1941. After a few months of compassionately serving the elderly sick at the former Holy Ghost Hospital, Cambridge, MA Sr. Alice started her 25 years career as a Child Care Worker, serving at St. Anns Orphanage, Worcester, MA and St. Joseph Orphanage, Nashua, NH. Sr. Alice loved the children under her care, always enjoyed a good laugh and was well organized, which were valuable assets. She loved being a Grey Nun and had a vibrant prayer life which kept her close to Christ throughout her life. In 1979, Sr. Alice accepted to go to the far mission of the Grey Nuns in rural Dyersburg, Tennessee doing social ministry for some six fruitful years. Then she was called back to New England to serve mostly in social/hospitality ministries with the elderly in the Grey Nuns institutions in Cambridge, MA and Lewiston Maine. She served as Local Leader for several mandates through the years. In 2006, Sr. Alice retired at Youville Place Assisted Living Residence, Lexington, MA where she continued to reach out to the residents, with her engaging smile, her positive attitude and her prayerful spirit. With her health diminishing, she was admitted to Maristhill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Waltham, MA and died peacefully a week later. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Sr. Alice Gagne on Friday, July 15, 2011. Sr. Gagne leaves behind her nieces in Woonsocket, RI: Jeannette Deragon, Francoise Carrier and Jeanne Rheaume as well as other nieces and nephews and many friends. Interment Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden.



Published in The Lexington Minuteman from July 14 to July 21, 2011