Collette Germaine Gendron

Collette Germaine Gendron, 94, of Nashua, NH, passed away on December 31, 2025. She was born on August 5, 1931, in Nashua, NH, to the late Alextide and Eva Laquerre.

She lived in Nashua her entire life, since the early 1930s. Collette’s family was extremely close; Collette and her mother were especially close. She had four siblings, two brothers and two sisters. Collette spoke fluent French because of her parents and it was often spoken in the home. Collette was very talented; she enjoyed dancing, playing the piano, and singing French songs. Collette was a huge fan of Engelbert Humperdinck and was a proud member of his fan club. She attended many of his concerts and made so many lasting friendships with other fan club members.

Collette was a holy woman, and she governed her life by her faith. She enjoyed attending church, especially with her family, and she joyfully shared her love of God with others. Collette was an extremely hard-working woman from early on. She had to quit school in the 8th grade so that she could get a job to help support her family financially. Collette worked at Palm Dress, Jalb Manufacturing, and New England Hair Illusions. When she was in her late 50’s, she went back to school and got her GED and finally graduated from high school. Her family enjoyed celebrating this wonderful achievement with her. Collette was a talented seamstress her whole life and she worked as a seamstress full time for many years. She also crafted custom doll clothes from home as a cottage business in the 1960s. She often made her children’s clothes and coats; her family always had nice new Easter clothes that she made each year when the kids were younger. Collette and her beloved husband Leo first met after being set up on a blind date organized by Collette’s brother Roland and her sister’s husband Florian (who were both in the US military and knew Leo). Collette and Leo shared 60 wonderful years full of love and support. They shared four beautiful children together, Diane, Michael, Kevin, and Dan. Collette provided consistent support of Leo’s career while supporting her four children to have successful futures. Collette and Leo volunteered at St. Louis Church to organize luncheons after funeral masses. Collette loved cooking meals from scratch, and those meals were nothing short of delicious each time. Collette loved doing things for those around her and often went out of her way to make sure everyone around her was comfortable and well taken care of. She also loved sharing delicious, sweet treats with her family and her family loved surprising her with treats. Crosby Bakery was a staple in the family and it often was a gift shared amongst family members during get togethers. Collette was very resourceful. She never needed to drive a car; she walked everywhere or took the bus. Collette never complained about having to walk up and down the hills to get where she needed to go. Although, she finally had to get her driver’s license when she was around the age of 42 after her husband was travelling for his job and she needed transportation from the family’s new house. Collette’s daughter, Diane, her eldest child, was the only other one with a license in the family before Collette got her license. The family was a close unit and supported one another. Collette instilled such wonderful values and was such an amazing mother to her four children. Collette lovingly stepped into a motherly role for her nieces and nephews, opening her home and heart to them at the Gendron residence. She was a nurturing, motherly figure to all the children who entered her home. Collette took pride in taking care of her young grandchildren. When her mother, Eva, had a stroke and was confined to the nursing home for 10 years, Collette visited and helped care for her mother every single day for those 10 years.

Collette loved life and always had a strong desire to help others. She was also extremely crafty. One of her favorite pastimes was creating photo albums and scrapbooks where she described memories. For her children’s 40th birthdays she presented each one of them with a 40-year photo album filled with photos from their life starting from birth all the way up until that 40th year. Collette’s scrapbooks were more than store bought materials; she would use birthday cards, photo cutouts, and mementos to add love to her crafting and memory sharing. Collette’s living room was adorned with these scrapbooks and photo albums, special dolls and bears, and all of her other precious mementos that brought her comfort and joy. Collette loved inviting friends and family over to the house for parties and get togethers to share laughs, smiles, and memories. Collette was an amazing host and wonderful conversationalist. She enjoyed being a long time member of the Golden Gals, a group of retired women. They met monthly for breakfast or lunch to socialize and have lively conversations. Collette spent a lot of her free time connecting with her friends and family and loved visiting with her nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to shower them with love. Collette was like the glue of the family; she kept everyone up to date on the happenings so that the family stayed connected. Collette’s family loved her beyond measure. Collette made sure that those around her felt loved. She left behind a legacy of love and her family will always remember her with such warmth, love, and reverence.

She is survived by her daughter, Diane and her husband Paul Stutsrim; sons, Michael, Kevin, as well as Dan and his wife Kathy; grandchildren, Christopher and his wife Lori, Eric and his wife Ashley, Austin, Bailey, Amanda, Jason, and Alex; great grandchildren, Jacqueline, Savanna, Aliyah, Felicity, as well as Alden and Levi; as well as so many nieces and nephews who loved their Grammy endlessly. She was predeceased by two brothers, Normand and Roland, two sisters, Olivette Veilleux and Theresa Turcotte; her husband of 60 years and the love of her life, Leo Paul Gendron; and her daughter-in-law and Michael’s wife, Evelyn Bailey Gendron.

A funeral mass will take place on Saturday, February 28, 2026 at St. Louis de Gonzague Church in Nashua, NH at 10 a.m. with interment immediately following at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery. There will be a Celebration of Life at the Lafayette Club, High St., Nashua, from 12 noon-3 pm. All are invited to attend. Assisting the family with arrangements is the Cremation Society of NH, Nashua. To view Collette’s Online Tribute, send condolences to the family, or for more information, visit https://csnh.com.