Florence T. (Bourdon) Bibeau Bayer

Her life was lovely and lived with adventure, grace, and no regrets. She even enjoyed a hot air balloon ride in her final years. Florence T. (Bourdon) Bibeau Bayer died peacefully in the company of her daughter Diane on Thursday morning, September 26, 2024. Born in 1929 on a farm in Litchfield, NH, she was the sixth of eight siblings: Dorothy, John, Jeannette, Rita, Irene, Edward, and Shirley. Her austere life taught her to appreciate the value of a dollar and living simply. She met her husband Armand, the love of her life, as a teenager while she was working as a cashier and he was working in the bakery department in a local grocery store. They were married on June 24, 1950. When her youngest children started school, she worked as a bank teller in Manchester for nearly thirty years while her husband, a biologist, taught at St. Anselm College. Together they had three children and enjoyed spending summers on Lake Winnisquam where they rented a summer camp. Sadly Armand died of cancer in 1988 at age 64. Florence took up golfing to deal with her grief and was proud to have hit a hole-in-one. She eventually married Joseph Dowling, a fellow golfer, and they became snowbirds, enjoying winters in Florida. She was a devout Catholic and was thrilled to have had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 where she briefly touched his hand. She lived in Melbourne, Florida year round after her second husband’s death. She met Ralph Bayer, her third husband, when he almost hit a golf ball through her condo window. She loved to travel, and she and her husband went on many cruises, including one on the Queen Mary and an Alaskan cruise where she went salmon fishing. When illness made living alone impossible earlier this year, her daughter Diane moved her up to Sunrise Assisted Living in Wayland, MA to ensure that she received the best care possible. Florence leaves behind her beloved three children: David Alan Bibeau, a retired businessman and entrepreneur living in China, Diane Vida (Bibeau) Vabulas, a retired toxicologist and active library volunteer in Natick, MA, and Darlene Marie (Bibeau) Fortin , a retired fingerprint expert with the State Police and her husband Richard who live in Tilton, NH. She also leaves behind Ellen Dowling Callahan, who was a much loved step-daughter. She regretfully leaves the grandchildren she cherished: Charles Vabulas, Dustin Fortin, Sarah Fortin, Nicholas Bibeau, Beau Bibeau, Jackie (Bibeau) Bates, Marc Bibeau, and Julie Bibeau, as well as her great grandchildren: Elly Bibeau, Everett Bates, River Bates, Connor Bates, Nora Bates, Gwenyth Allen, Logan Allen, Emily Fortin, and Lucas Fortin, as well as her goddaughter Linda Levesque. She also leaves numerous nieces and nephews. Family and friends are invited to a Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 10:00 am at St. Aloysius of Gonzaga Church, 48 West Hollis Street, Nashua, NH. Internment will follow at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery (32 Pinehill Road, Nashua, NH) where Florence will rest with her beloved Armand. You are welcome to contribute in Florence’s memory to Catholic Charities’ Hurricane Helene Relief Fund:

https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/what-we-do/disaster-relief/hurricane-helene-response/