ForeverMissed
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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.
October 21, 2020
October 21, 2020
From our dear friend, Margaret Levy:

Terry and I met 42 years ago. We were living one block away from each other on Oxford Street in the West End of Hartford.
Jennifer was two years old and Jonathan was seven. I was going through a rough time in my life. Terry encouraged me to get the help
I needed. Although I moved away just a few months after we met, we've always kept in touch. Over the years I've shared Easter dinner with Terry's famous chicken Kiev, generations of gerbils, elementary
school plays at Noah Webster, Peter Pan at the Bushnell, A Christmas Carol at Hartford Stage, and, always, walks in Elizabeth Park. And at the end, even I learned to call her Marie. Rest in peace.

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October 21, 2020
October 21, 2020
From our dear friend, Margaret Levy:

Terry and I met 42 years ago. We were living one block away from each other on Oxford Street in the West End of Hartford.
Jennifer was two years old and Jonathan was seven. I was going through a rough time in my life. Terry encouraged me to get the help
I needed. Although I moved away just a few months after we met, we've always kept in touch. Over the years I've shared Easter dinner with Terry's famous chicken Kiev, generations of gerbils, elementary
school plays at Noah Webster, Peter Pan at the Bushnell, A Christmas Carol at Hartford Stage, and, always, walks in Elizabeth Park. And at the end, even I learned to call her Marie. Rest in peace.
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November 3, 2020
Marie-Thérèse Audet-Holmes

My cousin, Marie-Thérèse, as I have always called her, passed away peacefully on October 3rd with her daughter, Jennifer, by her side. For this, I am truly grateful.

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. It certainly does apply, however, when in your youth you develop strong bonds with your cousins, but when suddenly, families go in different directions and move to different areas, these cousins disappear from your life. Does one forget them? Not necessarily.

Marie-Thérèse was one of three female cousins whom I adored. What does one say about a person that one has not spent nearly enough time with during their adult lives, but whom one came to love deeply in one’s youth? One can find quite a bit to say.

I remember Marie-Thérèse and her sister, Marguerite (who also passed away this past May), very well. They had one younger brother named Albert. When my brother, Paul, and I would visit my Aunt Claire, we were the happiest cousins in the world. We loved being together. Afternoons of playing were never long enough. More than once we would hold council to devise a plan to convince our mothers to let us have supper together, so that we might have more time to play. When luck was really on our side, begging resulted in sleep overs. If my Aunt Claire said yes, we jumped for joy. I do not remember arguing or having any bad feelings about any of my cousins. Oh, sometimes we argued about what game to play, but I never ever recall going home angry or not wanting to see them again. I only remember loving them.

What I remember, too, about those days are the interesting differences we all had. Surely Cousin Albert would become a priest or some sort of missionary, while Cousin Marguerite showed signs of being a future teacher or caregiver. There was no doubt in my mind that Marie-Thérèse was the artistic one and the most adventuresome of the five of us, as well. When we played, she became bored if the activity was not exciting enough.

When we became teens, Marie-Thérèse would invite me to her bedroom and show me the drawings she had hidden away. Both of us loved talking about art, music and clothes. She was a bit avant-gardiste in her sketches of women’s clothing, for Marie-Thérèse had flair. I remember feeling a bit envious of her being more daring and opinionated than I was at the time, but I admired her for it.

Marie-Thérèse was so dedicated to her art that she eventually won some prestigious awards. She was sociable and friendly with people in general. Smiling came naturally with her. I believe she always looked at life on the bright side and always believed the best in others. As a mother, she loved her family and cherished her children. That is what I remember about Marie-Thérese.

Despite the fact that she was bed ridden toward the end of her life, whenever I called her at the home, she always spoke in a positive manner. I never got the impression that she felt sorry for herself. If she happened to have received a home-made card or pictures from me, she thanked me profusely. It was as though I had mailed her the world in a teaspoon. She was so appreciative of the smallest gesture. She loved the Virgin Mary, God, and her family. That is what made her happy. That is what made her strong.

It is good to think about those who have passed away, for when we think of them, we come to realize that we had forgotten, along the way, so much of ourselves, as well. To you, Marie-Thérèse, I would like to write: Je t’aime. My heart will never forget the all-too-brief times I spent with you.

Blanca Baquero

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