Marie-Thérèse Audet Holmes passed away Saturday October 3rd, 2020, with her daughter Jennifer by her side, while listening to some of her favorite tunes (Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross, Manhattan Transfer, Duke Ellington, and Take 6). Marie, who had gone back to her birth name in recent years, after being known as “Terry” for the majority of her life, was born in Manhattan to French-Canadian immigrants. French was the only language spoken in the home, and Marie didn’t learn English until she started Kindergarten. With a knack for vocabulary, you’d never know English wasn’t her native tongue. She would often use words in casual conversation that befuddled the average listener. Language wasn’t her only strength. Marie was also a talented artist with a very creative mind. She received an Associates Degree from FIT with a major in Fashion Illustration and later continued her education at University of Bridgeport, where she met her future husband, John Edgar Holmes, Jr. Marie and John (d. 2009) married in 1969 and settled permanently in Connecticut, first in Fairfield County, eventually ending up in Hartford where they raised their children. Over the years, Marie worked at various companies in the area as graphic designer (Aetna, Hamilton Standard, Coleco), while also taking breaks to focus on caring for her family and home.
Marie had a loving and generous heart and never turned down an opportunity to help friends or strangers. Later in life, after leaving the art world, Marie took up a second career as a CNA and spent many years caring for people in skilled nursing facilities and in their own homes. When she herself moved into a skilled nursing facility in 2014, she did not stop caring for others. She fed the pet bird on her floor, wrote out and delivered birthday cards to all the residents, and even started a Rosary group. Her faith and devotion to Christ was something that never waivered. Even as years went by and she suffered one bad turn after another, Marie never complained or felt angry. She continued to “offer up” her suffering and was grateful for the many good years she had.
Marie was predeceased by her parents, Claire Veilleux and Raymond Audet; her husband John; and most recently her dear sister Marguerite Audet Crescitelli. Marie leaves behind many loving family members and friends- her son, Jonathan Prince Holmes (Sarah) of Minnetonka and their sons Paxton and Kiernan Holmes; her daughter, Jennifer Robbins Holmes Weston (Gareth) of Hartford and their children Julia and Andrew Weston. Marie also leaves her brother Albert Audet (Brother Thomas) of Arcadia, CA and many nieces and nephews: John Crescitelli (Lisa), Lisa Crescitelli Zala (Jamie), Seth Richards (Kathleen), Jennifer Richards, Kathleen Valentino, Susan Viets and their children as well as Michael Crescitelli, Teresa Crescitelli Merkle, Diane Crescitelli, and Kathy Crescitelli Beiers. Dear friends also mourning Marie include Lucille Crescitelli Roy (Billy) and family of Somers, and Margaret Levy of West Hartford.
To honor Marie, donations may be made in her memory to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (
https://www.nami.org). A private mass will be held at a future date.