Denise Pauline Simard would like you to know that her work here is done. A heavenly offer was extended to participate in a new mission, which she has willingly accepted. This new mission will land her in the company of loved ones she has not seen in a long time, where there will undoubtedly be laughter, dancing, Trivial Pursuit, and Turner Classic Movies on a big screen. She left detailed instructions via Post-it notes to her husband and children to celebrate her well-lived life.
Denise was born on Aug. 1, 1946 in Massachusetts. Daughter of Gabrielle and Raymond Bergeron, and sister to Jacqueline, Colette, Lucie, and Marc, she grew up in an avid outdoors family. She met her husband Lee shortly after high school graduation and they were married in 1968. Over the next six years they had three children: Amie (Portland, Ore.), Andrew (New Harbor), and Eve (Williston, Vt.). In 1978 they fell in love with a tiny cottage on Pemaquid Point and it soon became their favorite place to be. They retired there in 1999.
Known for her mischievous wit and extreme empathy, she excelled as an X-ray technician. She left that profession for her dream job of motherhood. In retirement, she spent much of her time volunteering on the Pemaquid peninsula; in the Bristol Area Library, Fishermen’s Museum, and Fort William Henry Museum. If she wasn’t volunteering, you could find her in her gardens, walking the point in search of monarch butterflies, in the kitchen making soup, bathing grandbabies in her kitchen sink, or on the deck with a good book.
Her family wants you to know that her Alzheimer’s journey was only part of her story. She loved fully, laughed easily, and many of her best qualities live on in her family. Plans for a memorial service are still in preparation, and in lieu of flowers or gifts, the family asks for donations to be sent to the Bristol First Responders, 104 South Side Road, New Harbor, ME 04554.
Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main St., in Damariscotta. Condolences, and messages for her family, may be expressed by visiting stronghancock.com.
