Alma Theriault

Alma M Theriault, age 94, of Winter Garden FL died 5/9/15.
She had resided in Stratford CT for many years after she retired from New York Telephone company where she was very active in the Telephone Pioneers of America service organization.
She is survived by her immediate family of three children, Joseph, Diane, Michael, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Mass of Christian burial will be held 11am Friday 5/15/15 at Saint James Church on Main Street in Stratford, CT. Interment will follow in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Trumbell, CT.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Saint James Church, 2070 Main Street, Stratford, CT.


EULOGY


Alma was on this earth for 94 years and 10 months. Born in 1920, she was nine years old when the Great Depression hit. Soon she was a young woman of twenty when World War II began. It was around then that she married her husband Joseph Fitzgerald, and began a family. When the men were drafted to go fight overseas for the war effort, Alma rose to the occasion when asked to do a man's job, along with all the other women, taking the place of men in the factories. When the soldiers returned and she was told she had to give the job back, it was unfortunate for her. She liked the hard work and wanted to stay on.

She and Joe raised three children together, Joseph, Diane, and Michael. Alma learned secretarial and accounting skills which would serve her well in the years to come. She and Joe later started a successful grocery business in Mount Vernon, NY.

Alma was just 46 when she first became a widow, losing her husband to cancer. With her characteristic resolve, she started on a new career with the New York Telephone Company. This time she was not going to let anything stop her from moving up in her career. She immersed herself in learning the skills required to have a successful career in the phone company's vital engineering department. Alma was also a leader in the Telephone Pioneers of America service organization. She enjoyed a varied, challenging and rewarding career.

When retirement age arrived, she grudgingly accepted her retirement, and soon after met Joe David Theriault, who would become the love of her life, and the man with whom she will be buried. Their time together was not as long as either of them would have wished, but their loving bond was strong, and they made the best of the time they shared. Alma stayed in the house they bought together in Stratford, CT right up until a few months ago.

Alma had a long and country. She was a special friend and confidant to so many of us. She will be remembered with love and pride. Alma lived a life worth celebrating and her passage is today recognized by those of us who knew her successful life. A life based on honorable principles of honest work, love of family, community, church.

Service