Grandma Poulos...

You may have already heard, but we lost our beloved matriarch this week...Grandma Poulos, my mother's mother, passed away on Saturday at the age of 88.  She leaves quite the legacy behind, including 7 children, 17 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren with one on the way and many more to follow I'm sure.  We're all converging on Miami this weekend to honor her and say our goodbyes.  I'm looking forward to some bittersweet family time, as these things often are.  I've been privileged to have known all four of my grandparents into my adulthood, a rare blessing that I do not take for granted.  She was a great lady, beautiful, strong, loving, stylish, creative, faithful...I could go on and on.  Below is her obituary as it will appear on the Boone, Miami, Key Biscayne and Glens Falls, NY papers.  It doesn't do her justice, but what obituary ever could?  We've all been gathering pictures for a slide show to be shown at her memorial.  Here are a few that I've unearthed...The one above was taken at my wedding in 1992 and it's typical Grandma.  She's beautiful and playful and elegant and laughing, and if you look close you can see a wine stain down the front of her dress!  God Bless you Grandma!

Obituary for Madeleine Irene LeGault Poulos

Madeleine “Maddy” Irene LeGault Poulos passed away on January 15, 2011 in Boone, North Carolina.  She was 88 years old. Maddy was born on June 8, 1922 in Montpelier, Vermont, to Joseph H. LeGault and Leonie Marie Lemery LeGault, both French-speaking Canadian immigrants.  She was the second of their twelve children, and was raised in Glens Falls, New York.  Maddy attended St. Alphonsus School through the eighth grade, followed by Glens Falls High School.  She and her older sister, Jacqueline, left school to work and support their family when their father died suddenly at the young age of 41. She married James “Jim” George Poulos, also from Glens Falls, on October 20, 1950.  Together, they raised seven children and lived in Up-State, New York as well as Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida.  They retired to Key Biscayne, Florida, in 1970 where they resided for many happy years.  Maddy was an avid golfer, playing regularly at the Key Biscayne Golf Course and competing in many amateur tournaments with much success.  She also enjoyed making quilts with her sisters and needlepoint Christmas stockings for each of her grandchildren.  Maddy was a woman of faith, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, a great lady of the Greatest Generation who will be missed by all who were blessed to have known her.  Maddy was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, James George Poulos who died November of 1997, as well as 8 of her siblings: Georgette Whiting, Jacqueline Hamell, Margaret Hathaway, Mary Jane Jablonski, Jacques LeGault, Joseph LeGault, John LeGault, and Daniel LeGault.  She is survived by her seven children, Janet Metzger of Boone, NC, Jim Poulos of Miami, FL, Jeff Poulos of Eufaula, AL, Joanne Mieras of Schroon Lake, NY, Carol Alger of Boone, NC, David Poulos of Miami, FL, Laurie Martin of Boone, NC and three of her sisters, Leona Fleig, Frances Daly, and Melvina Daly, all of Glens Falls, New York. She is also survived by 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 1PM at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South Funeral Home and Cemetery, 11655 S.W. 117 Avenue, Miami, FL 33186. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to the ALS Recovery Fund at alsrecovery.org, a cause close to the family’s heart.

Grandma was always so elegant and stylish!

Grandma and Papou in their home in South Glens Falls, New York...Tan and smiling and adorable as ever!

 

Four generations of Poulos-LeGault women!

 

Grandma and a mere fraction of her legacy!

Grandma and three of her beautiful granddaughters, Christian, Kelley and Taylor. I took this in Boone on June 8, 2010, Grandma's last birthday. It's one of my favorites as it captures her love and affection towards all of her children. She will be so greatly missed...