Beulah F. (Gingras) Giguere

Beulah F. (Gingras) Giguere, age 95, formerly of Holyoke and long-time registered nurse at the Chicopee Visiting Nurse Association, passed away on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 in Arlington, MA.  She was born in Holyoke, daughter of the late Wilfred F. and Mary (Lancto) Gingras, and was educated in Holyoke schools.

Beulah became a nurse as a mid-life career switch in the early 1970s, graduating fourth in her class from the Holyoke Hospital School of Nursing, and winning the Faculty Award for achieving high academic standing and demonstrating high standards of clinical performance.

Before joining the VNA she served at Shriners Children’s New England (pediatric specialty care), and in the neo-natal area of Baystate Medical Center, both in Springfield. 

Prior to her career change she served as a bookkeeper for several local companies, Atlantic Aluminum, Fontaine Bros. and Remington Rand.  She also served a stint at Crossroads Radio, the weekly religious program produced by the Passionist Fathers In West Springfield.

Beulah was a volunteer at the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and for a local Alzheimer’s program.  She was an avid birder in an Amherst bird-watching club whose members traveled regionally to pursue their avocation, including late-night, early-morning “Owl Prowls.”  In an early 1990s interview, she said: “It is very exciting to be able to do these things at this stage of my life.”

Following retirement she worked part-time as a receptionist at the Marian Center, a religious community of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary in Holyoke.

She is survived by a son, David N. Giguere of Watertown; a brother, Ronald W. Gingras of suburban Washington DC.; nieces Cynthia O’Brien of Harmony, NC; Christine Warren of Westfield, MA; Liza Ronayne of Aberdeen, SD; and nephew Mark Gingras.

The funeral will be held on Tuesday, January 25, at 10:00 am from the Barry J. Farrell Funeral Home, 2049 Northampton Street, Holyoke, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 am in Our Lady of the Cross Church. Burial will follow at Saint Rose Cemetery in South Hadley. A calling hour will be held at the funeral home on Tuesday from 9:00 to 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org.

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