Laura L. BERTIN

Laura L. Cloutier, born in Berlin, N.H. on April 11, 1917, died peacefully in the presence of her family at the Tandet Center in Stamford, on Thursday, November 3, 2005. She was the daughter of Alphonse and Ida (Houle) Bertin. Laura lived most of her life in Manchester, N.H. and Wells Beach, Maine, before moving to Stamford to be close to her family. She was the wife of the late Leo E. Cloutier, sports editor of the Manchester Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News and founder and director for 40 years of the Manchester Baseball Dinner. Laura had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, especially in the areas of religion, art, literature and philosophy. She spent most of her adult life creating her own art from design to oil paintings and watercolors. The Currier Art Gallery in Manchester, N.H. and the Louvre in Paris were favorite places and she enjoyed teaching watercolor painting to senior citizens in Stamford. Laura was very committed to the Catholic Church, particularly St. Mary's Church in Wells Beach, Maine. She liked to travel throughout the United States, Rome, Italy, and Paris, France and twice took trips to see the Pope. Laura's journey of faith, hope and love continues. Her family and friends celebrate her full life and will miss her smile, her words, her laughter and her humor. Laura is survived by two sons, Jon Craig Cloutier and his wife, Beatrice, of Kittery Point, Maine and Christopher Cloutier and his wife, Okhee, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a daughter, Gailann Clear and her husband, Michael, of Westport; a brother, Henry Bertin of Berlin, N.H.; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by two brothers, Albert and Leo Bertin. A funeral mass was held at St. Mary's Church in Wells Beach, Maine on November 5, 2005, officiated by Laura's nephew, Rev. Gerard Bertin. Arrangements were by Bibber Memorial Chapel, 111 Chapel Road, Wells, ME. Published in the Connecticut Post on 11/16/2005.