Stella Mae LaFountain

BARRE – Stella Mae (Ashford) LaFountain, 99, passed away in the comfort of her home in Barre, VT, on October 5, 2024, due to complications of COVID. Born May 26,1925, Stella was the second of 11 children born to Forrest A. and Stella M. (McMaster) Ashford. Stella (Sis) attended school in Barre, where she was an excellent student. She would eventually receive her GED when she was in her forties. Throughout her teenage years, she worked for the Joseph Monte family, caring for their children, and spent summers on her Uncle John and Aunt Helen Ashford’s farm in Peacham, VT, working many hours helping her uncle tend to numerous farm chores. She would continue to spend summers with them in later years, bringing her children and providing them with some of the happiest memories of their childhood. At the age of 18, Stella moved to Hartford, CT, where she and her sister, Ginny, worked at Pratt and Whitney. She then met the love of her life, Nelson (Swede) LaFountain. They were married on July 4, 1943, and both continued working in CT until returning to Barre, VT, in 1944, where their first child, Nelson (Buzzy) was born, then moving to Websterville, VT. They subsequently divorced and Stella continued to work and raise her four children on her own. Sadly, she would lose her oldest son to polio at the age of eight. She persevered through that heartbreak and valiantly worked to provide for her remaining three children, before moving to Montpelier, VT, to be near her parents. She subsequently married James (Rocky) Rice and moved to Waterbury, VT. Following his death, she reconnected with her first husband, who was living in Sylmar, CA, and moved to be with him and her son, Alan, who was operating a welding company with Swede, fashioning ornate gates for quite a few movie stars in the area. Stella always liked to relate how many celebrities she was able to meet through Swede’s and Alan’s jobs. They remarried in 1978 in Las Vegas, NV and spent the next seven years in Sylmar, where she managed to navigate those 5-lane highways to get to work at a local department store, before returning to Montpelier, VT. She and Swede enjoyed many happy years together, celebrating their 25th anniversary before his death in Dec. of 2003. Stella continued to live in Weston’s Trailer Park until 2011 when Hurricane Irene flooded the park, and she lost her home. She then resided with her daughter Sharon Hersey and partner Mason Whitcomb for a year before moving into her own apartment on Allen St. in Barre. Always a hard worker, Stella’s job history included employment at Sprague Electric, Harry’s Department Store, The Roma Garden Restaurant, Vermont Life Magazine, and lastly, the VT Dept. of Motor Vehicles, where she worked for over 30 years. While there, she earned “Employee of the Year” and “Employee of the Month” awards and was featured on WCAX’s “Super Seniors”. She was still working and driving her own car until the age of 92 when she had a hip replacement and was forced to give up both. Stella’s hobbies and interests included oil painting, fishing, cribbage, card playing, crossword puzzles, Word Find, Super Scrabble, shopping, foliage rides, Bragg’s creemees, and reading. And how she loved watching old Western movies on TV! Stella especially enjoyed summer vacations on Lake Elmore, VT and at Wells Beach, ME. Highlights of her life were three cruises to Bermuda (one to celebrate her 80th birthday), and attending her granddaughter Nichol’s wedding in Bermuda, and her granddaughter Jennifer’s wedding in Scotland. Holidays always meant a lot to Stella, especially Christmas, and she made sure her homes were beautifully decorated and that we all maintained traditions that had been in place for many years. She was also an exceptional grandmother and was a constant and loving presence throughout their lives. She was especially devoted to her beloved grandson Matthew, who she referred to as the “second love of my life.” Stella was predeceased by her father and mother, husbands James Rice and Nelson (Swede) LaFountain, sons Nelson (Buzzy) and Alan, brothers Robert (Bobby), John (Sonny), Forrest (Rolly), Edward (Eddie), and Erban (Donnie) Ashford; sisters Virginia (Ginny) Somers, Elizabeth (Betty) Plunkett, Lila Poulen, Dorothy Ashford, and grandson Matthew John Hersey. She is survived by her daughter Sharon Hersey and partner Mason Whitcomb, daughter Cheryl (DeeDee) and son-in-law Bob Rupert, stepson Larry LaFountain, granddaughter Jennifer Hersey and husband Chris Vigneault, granddaughter Nicole (Rupert) Wisnewski, granddaughter Christine (LaFountain) Bunn, great-grandsons Brandon Johnson and Alan Adams, great-great grandson Braxten Johnson, sister Isabelle and husband Ed Evarts, sisters-in-law Claire Ashford and Irene Ashford, plus numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Stella was an extraordinary woman who exhibited great strength, courage and resiliency, overcoming the many hard times and heartbreaks she experienced during her lifetime, and always managing to keep her sense of humor. Those of us who had the great good fortune to share her amazing 99 years will be forever grateful and will continue to keep her memory alive. Forever loved and forever in our hearts. Calling hours will be held on October 19, 2024, from 10:00am to 12:00pm at Pruneau-Polli Funeral Home in Barre, VT, with a time of food and fellowship after at Barre Mutuo on Beckley St. in Barre. The burial and graveside service will be held on October 21, 2024 at Wilson Cemetery in Lower Websterville, VT, at 11:00 am. Arrangements are in the care of Pruneau-Polli Funeral Home, 58 Summer St. in Barre.

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Stella Mae LaFountain

May 26, 1925 - October 5, 2024