Caroline Elizabeth (Paige) (Bragdon) Junkala

Caroline E. Bragdon Junkala moved to her Lord’s side on July 15, 2020, while sleeping at Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland, NH. Caroline was born in Temple, NH, on August 5, 1935, daughter of Harvey and Vera (Draper) Paige. She spent time as a child in Temple, Greenfield, and Lyndeborough, eventually spending her teen years in Milford and graduating from Milford High School in 1953. She married Orson H. Bragdon, Jr., in Milford on February 21, 1954.

Caroline loved children and carried seven of her own into this world. While raising her own children, she and Orson (Jay) also cared for, and/or helped raise, dozens of children through the State’s Foster Parent system. She provided babysitting services for upwards of 20 kids. In the mid 1960’s, realizing that there was limited access to kindergarten for her own kids, she decided to open RM Kindergarten (later to become Souhegan Valley Christian Kindergarten). Jay took an attached barn and remodeled it into a very nice teaching room and Caroline hired teachers and staff to provide a new learning facility in town. By the early 1970’s, the house at 3 Cottage Street was a beehive of activity after school on any given day. To keep all the kids active, she ran a Good News Club weekly, and required her children to learn various musical instruments.

Though Caroline had worked at various jobs in her life, she enjoyed cutting hair the most. The kitchen was her salon, where she provided “permanents” to women where she had her own hooded hair dryer for her customers to sit under…..though calling them customers would be misleading. They were all her friends. Somehow, she managed to cut hair, control a couple dozen or so kids running around the house and/or in the back yard, and have supper ready every day.

In the mid-to-late 70’s, Jay opened a locksmith business and Caroline became a certified locksmith and a master at re-keying commercial locks. When someone needed 5 or 10 locks in one building, each needing separate keys but still having a master key for the entire facility, Caroline had the innate mathematical capability to handle the “numbers game” that was part of locksmithing. She would work the pins, cut the keys, and hand them all to Jay for installation. They made a good team and the Bragdon Lockshop business thrived. Both Jay and Caroline spent time as members of the NH Locksmith Association.

Following Orson’s death in 1995, Caroline married George Junkala in 1996, and spent her remaining years with George. They “downsized” and moved to Lyndeborough, and bought an RV trailer so that they could travel and visit the various children and relatives that lived around the US. Eventually, they moved to Keene to live with George’s daughter, Laura Tharpe. Sadly, Caroline began to suffer from dementia and, last year, was moved to Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland. George soon joined her there, but he passed away on February 25 of this year.

Caroline was predeceased by her sister, Thelma Bouchard of New Boston, NH. She is survived by four siblings; sisters Erma McNeil and Sylvia Sapienza of Florida and Frances Bailey Bernard of New Hampshire; and a brother, Clarence Paige of Francestown, NH. She is also survived by her seven children….. Robert and Barbara Bragdon (Wilton, NH), Richard and Cheryl Bragdon (Raleigh, NC), Marcia and Craig Powers (Amherst, NH), Randall and Lucia Bragdon (Claremont, NH), Mary and Jonathan Fox (Albuquerque, NM), Maureen and David Sorensen (Ada, OH) and Mayna Bragdon (Brooklyn, NY). As you might guess, there are many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, too.

Calling hours will be Tuesday, July 21, 2020, from 1-2 PM at Colonial Hills Baptist Church, 54 Melendy Rd., Milford, NH. Physical distancing and masks required. Caroline will be buried at the Meadow View Cemetery in Amherst, NH, at the Bragdon family plot. Caroline was a zealous Christian and will have no problem passing security at the Golden Gates. Please pass your condolences to the family through Fletcher Funeral Home at www.FletcherFuneralHome.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be mailed to the Maplewood Nursing Home, 201 River Road, Westmoreland, NH 03467, designated for Maplewood Activities, Maplewood Association or Maplewood Employee Association. Also, donations may be made in Caroline’s name to Maranatha Ministries, 140 Merrymeeting Rd., New Durham, NH 03855.