Her parents, Lionel and Hermance (Houde) Rouleau, welcomed their daughter, Marie Claire Jeanne D'Arc, into the world on February 9, 1934 in Gardner, MA. She grew up in Gardner and graduated from Gardner High School in 1952.
Jeanne worked for over twenty years at the former Cheshire National Bank in Keene, first as a check printer, and later as the bank's drive-up window teller.
In her free time, Jeanne loved to dance, and she and her husband, Arthur never sat out a song while in a dance hall. They enjoyed polkas, square dancing, and all types of ballroom dancing. She and Arthur traveled all over the world, creating photographic scrapbooks of their adventures. Following retirement, Jeanne and Arthur enjoyed volunteering at The Community Kitchen in Keene.
A self-described "knit-wit," Jeanne was an avid and talented knitter who showcased her baby sets and blankets at a variety of craft fairs. She also enjoyed card games with family and friends, displaying a competitive spirit that earned her the nickname "Mean Jeanne from Keene."
Jeanne was a longtime parishioner of St. Bernard and St. Margaret Mary Churches in Keene.
She will be greatly missed by many, especially her three children, Russell A. Cloutier and his wife Mary Beth Given, of Keene, Celeste A. Kaye and her husband Barry, of Sharon, MA, and Denise M. Cloutier and her partner Darlene Membrino, of Goshen, CT; her grandchildren, Rachel Maguire and her husband Rory, of Pembroke, MA, Stephanie Borow and her husband Scott, of Sea Cliff, NY, Jason Kaye and his partner, Erin Morrison of E. Middlebury, VT, and Gregory Cloutier and his fianceé, Azucena Vincello of Hinsdale, NH; a great-granddaughter, Allison Borow; a brother, Joseph M. Rouleau, and a sister, Rita McKellick, both of Winchendon, MA; and many nieces, nephews and extended family members. She was predeceased by her husband of 64 years, Arthur L. Cloutier, on March 17, 2020; and two brothers, Roland Rouleau and Rev. Maurice Rouleau.
Family and friends are invited to call on Wednesday evening, February 16, 2022 from 6:00 to 8:00pm in the Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court Street, Keene. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated in St. Margaret Mary Church, 33 Arch Street, Keene, on Thursday at 10:30am. Burial with committal prayers will follow at 1:00pm in the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery Chapel, 111 Glenallen Street, Winchendon, MA. All those in attendance at the visitation and funeral mass are required to wear facemasks and to maintain physical distancing requirements.
For those who wish, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mrs. Cloutier's memory to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Pl., Memphis, TN 38105.
