Lucille S. (Gagnon) Hynes

KITTERY – Lucille S. (Gagnon) Hynes, 90, passed away peacefully at the Avita of Wells memory care facility on Oct. 1, 2025, following a period of declining health.

Born in Berlin, N.H. on Aug. 5, 1935, she was the daughter and first child of Gerard J. and Blandine A. (Gagnon) Gagnon. At the age of 2, Lucille and her family moved south to the Anacostia section of Washington, D.C., where she spent the majority of her childhood. Coming from a French-Canadian family, Lucille recalled speaking only French when she started school but quickly learned English while attending Catholic schools in her Anacostia neighborhood.

On Christmas Day in 1948, Lucille lost her father to cancer. Her mother then resettled the family back north to Berlin, N.H. Though only 13, Lucille took on responsibility for helping her mother and four younger sisters. It was during this difficult time that she was drawn to pursue a career in nursing.

Lucille was the first in her family to earn a high school diploma, graduating from Notre Dame High School in Berlin, N.H. in 1953. Following her vocation, she enrolled in the Saint Louis Hospital School of Nursing in Berlin, N.H., graduating in 1956 and becoming a Registered Nurse. She would begin her nursing career, which lasted for 42 years, at Saint Louis Hospital.

In 1959, Lucille met her future husband, William R. “Bill” Hynes, while on a camping trip with friends at Dolly Copp Campground near Gorham, N.H. After a year of courtship the two were married and moved south to Kittery where they would raise their four children. Lucille would continue her nursing career, first at York Hospital and later at Portsmouth (N.H.) Hospital, in both the intensive care and short stay units. Lucille balanced a demanding schedule, working full-time while devoting her other hours to her kids, instilling in them the values of hard work and education. And as she had hoped, all four would earn college degrees.

She would retire from nursing in 1998 at the age of 62, in part to devote more time caring for Bill so he could remain at home with family during his final years.

Lucille kept busy in her retirement, serving as a volunteer delivering Meals on Wheels in the Kittery area, and as an usher at Saint Raphael Catholic Church, where she was a longtime and devout parishioner. She also looked forward to going to lunch with her nurses group, and did a bit of travelling, taking bus trips to Virginia and Nova Scotia.

Lucille also found time to relax, and enjoyed solving crossword puzzles, watching “judge shows” on television, and cooking and baking. Family especially looked forward to her delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies which she always had on hand. Lucille was also caretaker to her much-loved Lhasa Apso, Marcy.

In March of 2018, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, Lucille moved to Avita of Wells and became a most beloved and cherished member of the Autumn residential community until her passing. During her time at Avita, she enjoyed engaging with staff, doing arts and craft projects, playing bingo, and solving countless books of wordsearch puzzles. Lucille was at times feisty, sometimes cantankerous, but always very loving and generous to those closest to her. She was one of a kind, a true original. She will be missed.

Lucille was predeceased by her husband, Bill, on Aug. 8, 2006 after nearly 46 years of marriage. She was also predeceased by her parents; her sister, Marcelle Theberge and her half-brother, Marc Laflamme.

Her surviving family includes her daughter, Kathy Hynes and her companion, Gary Smith of Watertown, Mass., her son, Kevin Hynes, of Livingston, Texas, her son, Doug Hynes, and his wife, Leslee, of Newport, Vt., her daughter, Ellen Desautels and husband Lee, of Intervale, N.H.; and her granddaughters Vienne Hynes of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Daisy Hynes of Derry, N.H. She also leaves her sister, Jacqueline Napert and her husband Leon of Shelburne, N.H., her sister, Paulette Papineau and her husband Alfred of Dedham, Mass., her sister, Estelle Gagnon and her husband Richard Burkett of Norwood, Mass., and sister-in-law, Jennifer Laflamme; along with several cousins; nieces and nephews.

The Hynes family would like to give a tremendous amount of thanks and love to the staff at Avita of Wells, as well as the Gentiva Hospice, for providing Lucille with a warm, caring environment and allowing her the great life she lived there over the last seven and a half years.

Lucille’s funeral mass will take place at Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church, 6 Whipple Rd., Kittery, on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. Light refreshments will follow in the church basement. Burial will be in the family lot in Brooks Memorial Park in Eliot, at the convenience of the family.

The J.S. Pelkey Funeral Home of Kittery is handling the arrangements.

Donations in Lucille’s memory can be made to the

Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, http://www.gsfb.org;

the Footprints Food Pantry, http://www.footprintsfoodpantry.org;

or the

Alzheimer’s Association of Maine at

http://www.alz.org/maine.