Lillian Mae Hopkins LaVigne
Lillian Mae Hopkins LaVigne, 96, a resident of The Wesley Community in Saratoga Springs, NY for the past seven years, passed away on July 30, 2021.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ambrose LaVigne, who passed away in 2011; parents Bernard and Mary Pyke Hopkins; sister, Gertrude Kannegeiser; brothers, Richard, James, Thomas and Bernard Hopkins; and daughter-in-law Kay LaVigne.
Survivors include her children and spouses: Robert LaVigne, James LaVigne and wife Mary Gavin, Diane Pinakiewicz and husband Bill, Dawn Trodden and husband Bill, her thirteen grandchildren Kelley Sturman, Lisa LaVigne, Wendy LaVigne, Tim LaVigne, Jarod LaVigne, Lindsay LeDoux, Jaimie Delaney, Ashley Smallwood, Thaddeus Pinakiewicz, Melissa Corrado, Christine Ackerman, Jessica Apel, and Kyle Trodden, as well as nineteen great-grandchildren.
Lillian was a devout Catholic, and a communicant of the Church of St. Peter in Saratoga Springs. She was a proud registered nurse who dedicated over 50 years of her life giving compassionate care to others, and she multiplied that talent by teaching other nurses and even creating her own curriculum for LPNs so they could pursue careers helping others.
She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and aunt, adding great memories and food to all family occasions.
She loved her husband Ambrose for over 60 years, unconditionally and faithfully, and worked relentlessly with him as a team to give her four children all the things she did not have.
Her children will always remember that she worked throughout their childhood, but they were always the kids who awoke to a mother’s breakfast, had lunch sandwiches on home-baked bread and enjoyed great family dinners every night. Their home was always spotless. Their friends were always welcome.
She blessed her friends with the same caring she gave her husband, children, and patients. Wherever she lived she went out of her way to help others, always ministering to their ailments and pitching in with a kind word, a good deed or a delicious meal. People who met her loved her for her kind heart and generous friendship.
At her request there will be no services. She will be cremated and her ashes joined with her husband’s at the Gerald B. Solomon National Cemetery at a later date. Those wishing to remember Lillian may make donations to the Wesley Community, 156 Lawrence St, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.