Constance L. Brodeur

Constance Lorraine Brodeur, RN, 83, of Amherst, NH, wife of Robert H. Brodeur, died peacefully on February 2nd, 2016, at her daughter and son-in-law’s home in Amherst, surrounded by her loving family after a long illness. A native of Nashua, NH, “Connie” was born on October 3, 1932, a daughter of the late Gaston and Noella Bossé and stepdaughter of the late Normand Cassista. Connie was a graduate of Nashua High School, Class of 1950, and the St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing, Nashua, NH, Class of 1953. She pursued her studies and received her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Boston College in 1954. While in Boston, she worked for the Visiting Nurse Association as well as Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (presently Brigham and Women’s). After graduation Connie returned to Nashua, NH, where she joined the faculty of the St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing and worked as an instructor of medical-surgical nursing. Through the years Connie functioned in many different nursing roles, first as a part-time staff nurse, while raising her three children, and later as a fulltime assistant director of nursing. During this very active period of her professional life, she also earned a Master’s degree in Education, with a minor in counseling, from Rivier College in 1978. She worked as Director of Academic Affairs at St. Joseph Hospital from 1984 till her retirement in 1996. She served on Rivier College’s advisory board for health care and administration programs from 1984 till 1989. After retirement from nursing, she continued her association with the hospital as a consultant in designing the recreation-therapy program with Castle College of Windham, NH. Her passion for nursing led her to participate in many professional nursing organizations. She served on the N.H. Board of Nursing for many years. She was a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the national Nursing Honor Society, the American Nurse Association and the National League for Nursing, for which she worked as a site visitor as well as a member of its board of directors. In 1984, Connie received the Sr. Madeleine of Jesus Award from the Rivier College Alumnae Association. In 1996, Castle College of Windham, NH, honored her with the Catherine McAuley Award, named after the Irish foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, for her contribution to nursing and health science education, having established a recreation therapy program, and for her contribution to the Castle College/St. Joseph Healthcare Collaborative. She belonged to the St. Marguerite d’Youville Associates, an association of the Grey Nuns of Montreal, with whom she worked for many years and whose mission to the sick and to the poor she whole-heartedly embraced. She was also a member of the St. Joseph Alumnae Association, serving as its president for several years, as well as the Zonta Club of Nashua, an international organization of women professionals dedicated to the needs of women throughout the world. She and her husband Robert were married on July 4, 1955, in her home parish, St. Francis Xavier Church, in Nashua. Together they enjoyed reading, camping, traveling, skiing, golfing, playing tennis and cards. They were the best of friends and they spent time enjoying numerous camping trips, cross country trips in their RV, and loved spending time with family and friends, especially their granddaughters and great grandchildren. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2015. She had many friends, both in New England and in The Villages, Florida, where Connie and Robert lived from 2002 through 2015. While in Florida, she was a communicant of St. Mark’s Church, The Villages, serving as a respite volunteer, and upon her return to NH she became a parishioner of St. John Neumann Church in Merrimack. Members of her family include Robert, her beloved husband of sixty years; her three children and their spouses, Michael and Esther Brodeur of Nashua, NH, Scott Brodeur SJ of Rome, Italy and Cynthia and Raymond Dow of Amherst, NH; three granddaughters, Melissa and Kyle Cabral of Winthrop, MA, Kristin Brodeur of Somerville, MA and Andrea Dow of Amherst, NH; two great grandchildren, Chace and Madison Cabral of Winthrop, MA; her sister and brother-in-law, Elaine and Robert Noel of The Villages, FL; her brother and sister-in-law, Normand and Carol Cassista of Methuen, MA; also many nieces, nephews and cousins. Calling hours will be held at the Smith and Heald Funeral Home, 63 Elm St., Milford, NH, on Friday, February 12th, 2016 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by her son Scott Brodeur, SJ at St. John Neumann Church, 708 Milford Road, Merrimack, NH on Saturday, February 13th, 2016 at 11 a.m. Family and friends are invited to join us in prayer at the church, followed by a reception. Interment will take place at the NH State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, NH on Tuesday, February 16th, 2016 at 12:00 noon. The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in her memory to Home Health and Hospice Care, 7 Executive Park Drive, Merrimack, NH 03054.