Irene 'Rita' Sirois

Irene “Rita” Sirois, 93, of Jaffrey, NH, passed away peacefully surrounded by members of her family, on January 5, 2024, at Jaffrey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

She was born in Peterborough on March 23, 1930, the youngest child and only daughter of Alfred and Rose Alice (LeClair) Guyette.  Rita grew up in West Peterborough where her parents worked in the mills. She loved the community life of the village and missed it when she went to nursing school in Manchester after graduating from Peterborough High School.

Rita earned a Registered Nurse degree at Notre Dame School of Nursing. She proudly wore the starched cap and uniform that symbolized her position. She loved taking care of her patients, and continued to do private duty nursing even after she started her family. It was while she was working at Monadnock Community Hospital that she met her future husband, Louis Sirois. After they married, on October 4, 1952, he joined the Army and left to be a medic in Korea while she took care of his ill parents. 

Rita always said that she and Louis planned to have at least 12 children. During the next 19 years, 10 girls and 3 boys were born. Each baby was welcomed with open arms. Her children have many memories of the way she managed the household. She loved to bake; after school, there were often homemade doughnuts or chocolate cookies called ‘poodles’ awaiting them. Doing laundry was a Herculean task which often meant a double clothesline full of diapers which afterwards had to be folded. Rita was also a lover of games and could be a fierce competitor when she was playing gin rummy or Carrom with her children or Spoons with her grandchildren. She made time to read the newspaper every day. She enjoyed watching basketball and loved the Boston Celtics; she attended all the Conant games to watch her own sons, daughters, and grandchildren play every sport. She loved the Boston Red Sox and was proud to have a brick engraved with her name at Fenway Park.

In her life of service, Rita volunteered with the literacy program at Jaffrey Grade School for many years. She was a parishioner of St. Patrick’s Parish until she moved to Summerhill in Peterborough. 

Rita is survived by her 13 children, and was a beloved Memere to her 26 grandchildren, and 26 great-grandchildren. The children and grandchildren include Anne Pelletier, Eliot (Morgan) Pelletier, Rosalind (Josh) Hanchett, Duncan Pelletier; Patty Cleveland, Sara (Rian) Brarmann; Kathleen (Franklin) Sterling, Jr., Lizabeth Sterling, Ashley Sterling (Bryan Boppert), Franklin Sterling III, Eve (Adam) Frisella; Martha Sirois; Nancy (Mark) Norby, James (Sara) Norby, Thomas (Molly) Norby; Mark Sirois, Daniel (Breanna) Sirois, Jenna (Josh) LeBlanc; Mary (Paul) Lively; Theresa (James) Ascani, Justin (Ashley) Ascani, Ross (Alex) Ascani; Claire Sawyer, Ruth (David) Reese, Naomi (Brandon) Morris, Jonathan (Adeline) Sawyer, Aimee Sawyer (Avery Jones); Michelle (Kenneth) Durand, Nathan (Brianna) Durand, Courtney Durand, Ezekiel (Kate) Durand, Charles Carlson, Jacob Carlson; Peter Sirois; Tom (Michele) Sirois, Hannah (Connor) Gach, Kathryn Sirois, Michael Sirois; Laura (Fred) Copp.

Rita’s husband, Louis, died in 1982, leaving her with 4 children under 16 to raise and support. She was also predeceased by her 4 older brothers, Vernon, Richard, Arthur and Raymond Guyette, 2 sons-in-law, Peter Pelletier and Richard Cleveland, as well as 1 grandson, Joseph Sirois.

In keeping with Rita’s wishes, there will be no calling hours.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at 10:00 AM, in Divine Mercy Church, 12 Church Street, Peterborough, NH 03458.  Burial will take place in the spring.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Jaffrey–Rindge Memorial Ambulance, PO Box 107, Jaffrey, NH 03452.

The family would like to express sincere gratitude to the staff at both Summerhill and Jaffrey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center for the dependable and consistent support, attention, and care given to our mother.