Lois A. Roberge

Lois Anne Roberge, née Melanson, died peacefully at her home in Carmel, Indiana, on February 28, 2024, at the age of 96, following a long illness. Lois was born on December 9, 1927, to J. Blair and Nellie Bly (née McManus) Melanson in Sanford, Maine. Her parents ran a pharmacy on Wentworth Street in Sanford, where Lois worked behind the soda counter as a high school student. She graduated from Sanford High School with the class of 1945, where her classmates wrote of her, “Attractive, helpful, guide and friend. Her good traits have no end.” Lois earned her associate’s degree at Becker Junior College in Worcester, Massachusetts. She married her home-town steady Paul Henry Roberge (1925–1996) in May of 1949, upon his return from service in the United States Army in World War II and graduation from Boston University. Having earned a baccalaureate degree in accounting, Paul Henry went to work for the Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys), where he would spend his entire career. The couple set up residence in Portland, Maine (Munjoy Hill), which saw the birth of two of five children (Paul T. and Susan J.). But the family would relocate several times as Paul Henry’s career with Burroughs advanced — Fairfield, Connecticut (1955–57) (welcome Christopher S.), Cape Elizabeth, Maine (just south of Portland, 1957–64) (and along came “The Girls,” Elizabeth A. and Barbara J.), Delmar, New York (greater Albany, 1964–65), then to the Boston area (Sudbury, 1965–66 and Wellesley, 1966–71), and from Massachusetts to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (metro Detroit, 1971–73), before settling permanently in Indianapolis. Lois represented everything that was great about the Greatest Generation. She steadfastly embraced her role as mother and homemaker, and made it look easy, even though it clearly was not, especially in the light of serial relocations as her husband ascended the corporate ladder. A parent of five rambunctious children who had no compunction about pushing limits and buttons (both hers and each other’s), Lois was patient and judicious, knowing when to “counsel” and when to look the other way. After her youngest child commenced college, she worked part-time at The Needlepoint Shop, teaching others how to knit, needlepoint, and cross-stitch. Lois’s skill set and interests extended far beyond the traditionally distaff arts of cooking (at which she excelled), keeping house, and needlework. She pursued volunteer work in the community, e.g., Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Better-Than-New Shop, and, in her 80s and early 90s, as a bed maker at St. Augustine’s Home for the Aged. Lois was a voracious, thoughtful reader. She played the piano until attenuating dexterity made that difficult. She and Paul Henry were avid golfers, for whom autumnal excursions to places like Southern Pines, North Carolina were a highlight of the year, especially if they included visits with family. They also played a mean game of bridge, both as a couple and in their separate social circles. They passed their love of card games to their children. If one of them had the temerity to trump her play, Lois would gently convey her displeasure (“You’re not my favorite child anymore.”) Lois bore her sorrows with fortitude and dignity. She lost her younger sister Barbara Jean (b. 1930) to a fatal automobile crash near Boston in June of 1963. Sadly, two of Jean’s four children also would precede Lois in death, Kevin Jellerson (1956–1978) and Brenda Jellerson Richard (1955–2023), whom she kept close. After the passing of her beloved Paul Henry in December 1996, she “retired” to a smaller but pleasant home in Carmel, where she presided over a large extended, at times chaotic but loving family, not as matriarch but as respected and much-loved elder who was gracious, generous, up for just about anything, and always a lot of fun. She also worked part-time as the file-clerk at RobergeLaw until the age of 89. Lois was among the last of her cohort and witnessed a lot in her long life, from the Great Depression to the Covid pandemic. If you were looking for a little wisdom, you knew where to find it; and as one of her children put it: “She was one tough gal.” Lois is survived by her five children: Paul Timothy (wife Anne Corrigan), Susan Jean (husband James McClain), Christopher Scott (wife Kathy Roberge), Elizabeth Anne (partner Mary Ziemba-Davis), and Barbara Jean (husband Rob Yeary). Lois also leaves behind a proud legacy of ten grandchildren (Andrew Smith (Anne), Lisa Smith, Katie Cubberley (Patrick), Ryan McClain (Rae), Maggie Roberge (Jeff), Grace Simmons (Erik), Sam Yeary (Erica), Max Yeary (Jill), Jack Yeary, and Cara Roberge) and eight great-grandchildren (Aaron and Casey Smith, Grayson and Callahan Yeary, William McClain, Lottie Cubberley, Paul Simmons, and Ava Yeary). A visitation for Lois will be held Tuesday, March 5, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery Chapel, 9001 Haverstick Road, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240, followed by a scripture service at 12:00 PM. Interment follows in the cemetery. Memorial contributions are suggested in her name to Little Sisters of the Poor or to IU Health Hospice.