Jeannette Simonne Bisson Bechard Joncas

"Pray With Me" ~ her final words ...

Thank you for coming today to learn more about our Mother, Aunt and friend, Jeannette Simonne Bisson Bechard Joncas. If you click the speaker button, you can hear one of her favorite songs and ideologies ... All is Gift. She was a gift.

Obituary

NEW GLOUCESTER: Jeannette Joncas, a resident of New Gloucester, passed away early on Wednesday April 17, 2019 at her home. Jeannette was born on August 19, 1934 in Auburn Maine to Alphonse and Jeanne Bisson. She was the youngest of 7 children growing up on the farm her father kept on Foster Road in Auburn. She was a graduate of Edward Little High School class of 1953.

She left Maine in 1954 and met her first husband Roger Bechard while working at Stanley Tool Works in Bristol Connecticut. They married in 1956 in Bristol where she gave birth to 6 and raised 5 children. She often related the memory of the brood, fully dressed in their Sunday’s Best, striding into church and the feeling of being so blessed. As a committed mom of an active family, she saw thousands of Little League Baseball games, youth football, high school hockey, soccer, and swim meets, never missing a game if she could help it, although some referees and umpires might have wished she had.

She maintained a strong faith in the goodness of God and His unfathomable mercy. One of her proudest moments was attending an Army vs. Air Force game at West Point, NY with her sons Gary (West Point Cadet) and Gregg (Air Force Academy Cadet) on each arm. Pictures show a beaming smile.

Jeannette returned to Maine in the summer of 1976 and was an employee at CMMC in the billing department.

She met the love of her life Adelard Joncas in March 1991 after a brief chase through Hannaford Grocery. They were married in December 1991 and lived in New Gloucester. She entered the lives of Al’s children and became affectionately known as JJ, a mother, friend, and supporter of many. Her cheesecake, among other kitchen delicacies, was always eagerly anticipated at family gatherings. She spent much of her time quilting. Each of her grandchildren have the fruits of that labor, each quilt embroidered with an “I Love You” sign and initials.

Jeannette never met a stranger, opening conversations with anyone from office receptionists to retail clerks. She maintained contact with her far flung family via Facebook. Her Millennial grandchildren were familiar with, and amused by, inbox messages that began, “Hi this is…Mere-mere”. Through her internet posts, she covered her contacts with love, advice and words of encouragement. Using a mother’s 6th sense, she seemed to know when someone in her sphere needed help.

She is survived by her husband Adelard Joncas, adult children, Gary and Elizabeth Bechard of Myrtle Beach, SC, Gregg and Sandy Bechard of Cape Elizabeth, ME, Glenn Bechard and Ruth Adams of Gardiner, ME, Grant and Bernadette Bechard of Queensbury, NY, Guy and Gina (Bechard) Maras of Naperville IL, Robert and Suzanne Joncas of Poland Spring, ME, Deborah and David Schlegel of Raymond, ME, 19 grandchildren, one great granddaughter with another on the way. She is preceded in death by her parents, Alphonse and Jeanne Bisson, her infant son Glen Joseph, siblings Yvette (Bisson) Lamontagne, Muriel (Bisson) Boulanger, Gerry Bisson, Irene (Bisson) Plourde, Lucille (Bisson) Reny, and Jean Bisson.

A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated at Sacred Heart Church in Auburn on Friday April 26, 2019 at 11am followed by committal prayers at St. Peter's Cemetery in Lewiston. Those wishing, can make a charitable contribution in Jeannette's memory to St.Anthony's Guild, The Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province 144 West 32nd Street New York, NY 10001-3202 or at www.stanthonysguild.org 

Eulogy 

She died 1.8 miles from where she was born.

Between those locations, a few lifetimes have occurred.
The first lifetime started with growing up on a farm. As the seventh and youngest child of Alphonse and Jeanne Bisson she was born to help her Dad with chores and to avoid having 5 mothers. We heard stories of baling hay, milking cows, walking to the bus, a one room school house, cooking with her Mom, brothers who earned silver stars, and the more, unbelievable stories of shifting winds to save the barn from fire, and pennies sent to her mother to stop many afflictions. She was a beauty on the prom court, a singer in the choir, and always had a winning smile in pictures in the Edward Little class of 1953 yearbook.
After high school, she moved to Connecticut. This is where the second lifetime began, when she met and married Roger A Bechard in August of 1956. A life of raising four boys and a girl was filled with car pools, little league, hockey games, football, high school home coming float assembly, soccer games, academic achievements, and volunteering. The referees and umpires throughout the state can now exhale. She was proud of all of her children, and would gladly tell you of their accomplishments. A second mom to many of her children’s friends, whether they liked it or not.
Her third lifetime came with the passing of her first husband and her adult children setting up lives in far flung states. Marrying Al in December of 1991 and being involved with the second round of children was a dream come true. She would be the first to tell you how lucky she was to have Al in her life, and how wonderful he was to her. Her life with Al was highlighted with quilting, concerts, ballet performances, baking, and gatherings of friends and people she had known since her childhood. Her heart was filled with love, acceptance and a sense of coming home.
Her fourth lifetime was experienced through her iPad and could be seen on the pages of Facebook. A daily check of the Facebook acted like her morning coffee. She had eyes on all of us. Her connection to everyone was punctuated with no less than six emojis and loving comments of support. She was able to see performances, share in travels to exotic places, join in celebrations, praise accomplishments and new recipes. It indeed was a good idea Gregg .... I’m glad she didn’t slap Cameron, who delivered the device, because “she just didn’t want it.” The upside of technology, being digitally connected to her world.

Throughout all of her lifetimes, she promised, if you have faith, “everything will work out.” She was willing to admit, however, that how the Lord saw things and how you wanted things to turn out, may be different. But, in the end, it would all be ok. It is all out of our hands. She would often invoke the intercessions of saints. St, Anthony, to find lost things, St. Joseph to help you sell your house, St. Peregrine to help you battle cancer. And ultimately, St. Jude if perhaps you were a hopeless case. She would send angels to aid you in your daily life. You may have recognized them as answered emails, unexpected phone calls or just strangers that happened to be there to help. I imagine, she is now tapping angels on the shoulder (or shoving them) into action with a more hands on approach.
She never hid her devotion to her faith. She was grateful for both the trials and triumphs in her life, and gave credit to God and his love for us for both.  Her prayer list was long. When she said she would pray for you, she did ...by name.... daily.... We all should be a little concerned. She would want each of us to pick up a portion of that list, to keep it going, otherwise, Al will spend most of his mornings reading the list. So its with a heavy heart and three lifetimes of memories that we say good bye, Mrs. Bechard, Jan, Mrs. Joncas, Mom, Memere, or JJ and God speed

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