Marilyn Plourde

***UPDATE***  Marilyn's Celebration of Life ceremony is scheduled for June, 1, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 7 Wescott Road, Simsbury, CT.  In honor of Marilyn, many of us are planning to wear flip flops and invite you to do the same.  There will be a reception to follow and details will be announced at the conclusion of the church service.

Marilyn Plourde, 79, passed away peacefully on January 5, 2024 at her home in Vero Beach, FL after bravely fighting pancreatic cancer for nearly 2 years. was born on June 17, 1944 in Portland, ME to her parents Edmund and Leona Plourde.  She moved to CT in 1957 and graduated from Bloomfield High School in 1962. She retired from the Aetna after 30 years then the Chiropractic Health Center in Bloomfield after 20 years.  She lived in Yuma, AZ for 4 years before moving to Vero Beach, FL in 2023.  She is survived by her sister Ethel Walsh and her husband, Edward Walsh of Phoenix, AZ; her brother Clayton Plourde and his wife Marcy Plourde of Yuma, AZ; and her sister Maria Plourde and her partner Rob Lucia of Vero Beach, FL; as well as 10 nieces and nephews and 9 great nieces and great nephews whom she absolutely adored.

Marilyn’s love for her family and friends was boundless and she often showed this love through her cooking.  She premiered the latest dishes (recipes that crossed her path in magazines, on cooking shows and social events that she attended) at any and all family gatherings.  Many of these recipes are already a loving part of our family celebrations. 

Marilyn had a life-long love affair with potatoes, actually all of the whites: potatoes, rice, pasta, bread; but particularly potatoes in any form - something we often teased her about!  She admitted to frequenting Applebee’s often only ordering their mashed potatoes!  Perhaps this love can be traced back to her youth in northern Maine where school closed so the youth could participate in the potato harvest.  She also loved raspberry jelly donuts; soft serve ice cream (another white) and caramel in various forms including caramel macchiato coffee and caramel sauce with vanilla ice cream. 

I for one will never be able to hear a Patsy Cline song without smiling and remembering how Marilyn and I would sing along with her songs as we traveled around Vero Beach, hopping from one thrift shop to another looking for the next clothing or home décor bargain.  Bargain hunting was a close 2^nd to her love of cooking.

Always thoughtful, generous and kind, you could count on Marilyn to reach out with a phone call or a card to let you know she was thinking of you - ready to lend an ear or a helpful hand.  Remarkably, she exemplified this trait even in the final days of her life.  Rarely would she let you leave her home without some kind of gift or trinket – treasured articles, memories and traditions that will keep her alive in all of our hearts forever.  

Marilyn would always say "Later" as she departed our company.  We too will not say goodbye but only "Later"...until we see you again, our sweet Marilyn!

Donations in Marilyn’s name can be made to either of the following organizations whose invaluable support during her illness will not soon be forgotten:

Cancer Center @ Yuma Regional Medical Center, Yuma, AZ

Visiting Nurse Association of Indian River County, FL