Rachel Evelyn Lavoie

Rachel Lavoie passed away peacefully on Thursday March 11 in Encinitas, California at the age of 93. The daughter of longtime New Hampshire state senator Louis Paquette and his wife Eva, Rachel was born and raised in her hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire along with her late siblings Edward, Roger, Cecile (Ouelette), Yolande (Ricard), Theresa (Bleau), and Jeanne (Cocozziello). After graduating from St. Louis de Gonzague Academy for Girls in 1946, she worked as a bookkeeper at several local businesses, including City Cash Market, owned by her brother-in-law, the late Hermes Ouelette. In 1952 she married Raymond V. Lavoie; they were together 48 years until his passing in 2000.

After Raymond’s death, Rachel dedicated herself to volunteer work, putting her skills as a bookkeeper to use in service at the parish office of St. Louis de Gonzague church, where she was a life-long communicant, and at the Nashua branch of the New Hampshire Food Bank. She enjoyed spending time with her family, and later in life played an active role in helping to care for her two grandchildren.

She is survived by her son Raymond V. Lavoie, Jr. and his wife Cynthia Chamberlin, her daughter Celeste Blankenship and her husband Chris, two grandchildren, Kyle and Rachel Blankenship, and many loving nieces and nephews.

A walk-through visiting hour will be held at Zis-Sweeney & St. Laurent Funeral Home, 26 Kinsley St. in Nashua on Tuesday, March 30 from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. A funeral mass will follow at St. Louis de Gonzague Church, 48 West Hollis St. in Nashua at 10:30 am, with burial immediately following at St. Louis de Gonzague Cemetery, 752 West Hollis St., Nashua.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Rachel’s name to the New Hampshire Food Bank.