Louise M. Currier passed away on the morning of Sept. 6, 2023 at Palm Center, Chelmsford. She was 101 years old.
Born Louise May McCaul on May 1, 1922, she was the eldest of eight children. Her mother was a Native American from the Mi’kimaq tribe who had come from Canada and settled on the coast of New England. Her father was of Irish heritage.
The family was desperately poor, often relying on the church and charity groups for meals, and sometimes toys at Christmas. When she was 12 years old, her father surrendered her and her siblings to the state and disappeared. The family was separated into several different foster homes.
Louise carried on the best she could. After a hospital stay, she was sent to Bedford where a kind woman became her caretaker. When Louise fell in love with a young man from the neighborhood, her caretaker told her that she had to give up the boy or she would be kicked out of the house. As a teenage girl, Louise could not give up her young love, and so she left her caretaker’s house to become a mother’s helper elsewhere in town, working for a woman named Grace in exchange for room and board. The young man she loved got swept into the U.S. Navy. The year was 1941.
Working as a mother’s helper, Louise received a quarter a month for her cleaning and child care services. She would save up for months to buy a dress. On top of her work, she studied hard and graduated from Lexington High School. Louise’s young love was cut short by World War II. The man she gave her heart to never returned home.
Later, Louise met Lincoln Currier from Carlisle. They fell in love and married. They purchased a home in Bedford, where she not only raised three children, but stepped in and raised three grandchildren as well. Tenacious and independent, she went on to get her driver’s license at age 40. She entered the workforce and her first job outside of a home was behind the counters at Woolworth, then later worked at the E.N. Rogers Memorial V.A. Hospital in Bedford for many years.
After a long life and 45 years of marriage, Lincoln Currier passed away in the Bedford V.A. hospital in 1995. Louise lived for another 28 years. During that time, she would dote on her great-grandchildren, often bringing them mountains of presents each Christmas. She also adopted and cared for many cats and dogs, including her beloved Sweetie, a rescued Chihuahua.
Louise was preceded in death by her daughter Sheila Inferriera of Lowell, her son John Currier of Lowell, her daughter Sharon Currier of Peoria, AZ, and her grandson, Lincoln Clark of Lowell.
She was the beloved grandmother of Richard Clark of Lowell, Darlene Atteridge of Billerica, Steven Centerrino of Braintree, and Steven Currier of Lowell. She was the beloved great-grandmother of Lane Atteridge of Littleton, Amber Atteridge of Washington DC, Ryan Clark of Bedford, Nick Centerrino of Braintree, and Anna Centerrino of Braintree.
A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 11 in Shawsheen Cemetery, Bedford. Family and friends are invited.
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