Obituary: Katherine “Kaye” Beaudin, 1925-2024 

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• Courtesy
• Katherine Beaudin

Katherine “Kaye” Beaudin, 98, passed peacefully on July 10, 2024, with her son, Michael, by her side.

She was born Katherine E. Gaudette on October 2, 1925, in East Georgia, Vt. She attended Bellows Falls Free Academy in Fairfax.

Kaye, as she was known to most, left school and her family home at the age of 14 for work in Burlington to help support her family. Kaye spent her working years in service sector positions, where she enjoyed interacting with customers, assisting them and bringing a smile wherever she went.

She married her husband, Joel Beaudin, in 1951. Through 44 years of marriage, she stood by him, being instrumental in getting him the best care possible in health challenges during his last years.

Kaye loved to crochet, even as her eyesight faded, and gifted blankets to many family members for their comfort. Guest beds at her former residence still welcome with her colorful creations.

Her love of puzzles was shared with her granddaughter, Tasha, and they would enjoy completing them together when Tasha shared her home for a time as an adult.

More than anything, though, Kaye was known for her love of and skill at gardening. The Orchard Road property thrives with plantings of all kinds. Every spring it erupts in a riot of blooms and colors, which her son, Michael, would cut and arrange in bouquets to share with her after she moved to a nursing home. She imparted her love of gardening to her grandson, Travis, who in recent years reclaimed overgrown gardens and added fig and apple trees, as well as berry bushes, to the garden’s bounty.

In good times and more challenging ones, Kaye nourished lasting friendships based on bonds of love and acceptance and was filled with gratitude, whichever ways people entered her life.

Staff at the Villa in St. Albans Nursing Home, where she was lovingly cared for in later years, remarked on her sass, even as her frailty increased. Upon being asked what she had done the previous day, she replied that she had been skiing with her girlfriends in the morning, followed by some ice skating in the afternoon. Her grit showed in shoveling her long driveway until age 88 while commenting on her son's subsequent use of a snowblower "at his young age."

Kaye shared a deep bond of affection with her daughter-in-law, Kathy, united by their love for and support of her son, Michael.

This love was returned by Michael in his unfailing support for his mother until her passing. He bought her clothes soft both inside and out and, long after she lost her sight and moved to a nursing home, arranged them on hangers in color-coordinated daily outfits for her. When questioned, he pointed out that his mother had always been well dressed, and he would see to it that her dignity would be maintained.

Kaye was predeceased by her father, Alais J. Gaudette; mother, Mary (née Murray); stepmother, Anna Louise Gaudette; husband, Joel Beaudin; brothers, James, Ralph, Paul, Kenneth, Lois, Robert, Raymond, Roy and Vernon; sisters Mary Metivier, Dorothy Metivier, Elesene Gaudette and Eunice Raymond; and her daughter-in-law, Kathy Beaudin.

Kaye is survived by her son, Micheal Beaudin; granddaughter, Tasha Beaudin, and wife Cheryl Audi; grandson, Travis Beaudin; sister Eleanor Foy, sisters-in-law Aline Elliott and Sue Moorby; and many nieces and nephews.

Visiting hours will be held on Sunday, July 28, 2024, noon to 12:45 p.m. at Corbin & Palmer Funeral Home, 9-11 Pleasant St., Essex Junction, VT. A funeral service will be held in the Corbin & Palmer chapel at the same location immediately following, at 1 p.m., presided over by Kaye's niece, the Rev. Dr. Joyce Caggiano. Kaye Beaudin will be laid to rest on Monday, July 29, 2024, 10 a.m., at New Mount Calvary Cemetery, 76 Plattsburg Ave., Burlington, VT. Mourners wishing to attend the burial are asked to meet directly at the cemetery.  For more information, please visit vtfuneralhomes.com

In lieu of flower arrangements, the family asks that those attending the visitation and service bring small bouquets (four or five stems) from their own gardens that remind them of Kaye. Those will be transported to the cemetery and laid to rest with Kaye. Monetary donations may be made in Kaye's name to the Lund Center, Development Office, 50 Joy Dr., South Burlington, VT 05403. For more information, please visit vtfuneralhomes.com.