Lovina Theroux Marotte



My grandmother, Lovina Theroux was born on December 23, 1885 in Pawtucket, RI to Alberic Theroux and Rose DeLima Limoges. She was the second of ten children with the first child, a boy, having died the day he was born. She was a very active young lady and attended school until she reached the 8th grade, at which point she was expected to find work to help support the family. She secured a job at a nearby cotton and lace factory while learning to play the piano from her mother along with all of her sisters. She became an accomplished pianist eventually giving piano lessons in the evenings and on Saturdays. She also completed her high school education by going to night school.

Originally she had plans to enter the convent, but after attending a farewell party for a friend, she met her husband, Alphonse Philip Marotte, who was her best friends' cousin! They married on June 24, 1907 and settled in Pawtucket, RI to raise a family. Her husband was the first in his family to own property in the United States as his father, Theodore Marotte, immigrated from Canada with his father in 1854.

She loved children and had nine children of her own, eight girls and one boy. According to her oldest daughter, Ozina Cora Marotte, she had an extraordinary green thumb and could grow anything. If she saw a plant along the road she liked and it was just about ready to die, she could bring it home and nurse it back to life! She loved to embroider and would sew their clothes along with beautiful quilts and lacey tablecloths. A trade she learned while working at the lace factory.

Unfortunately, she lost two of her daughters who died of Diptheheria in the early 1930s. It was a time of deep sorrow for her. She concentrated her efforts on the care of the rest of her family.

She died on October 20, 1945 after battling a number of physical aliments. She has passed on her musical talents, her love of education and her green thumb to many of her descendants.

As we turn to Mother's Day next month, let's remember all our ancestral mothers, even those we may never have met.

Remembered: Lovina Theroux Marotte 1885-1945