Paula C. Smith

Paula C. (Couillard) Smith, 73, of Rindge, New Hampshire, passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 26, 2022, after a period of declining health.
Paula was born on January 3, 1949, in Chelsea, MA, the daughter of Paul and Pauline Couillard. Paula and her siblings grew up in Portsmouth, NH, Lincoln, NE, and eventually Danvers, MA. She is a 1967 graduate of Danvers High School in Danvers, MA. After high school she attended Salem State University earning a bachelor’s degree in French in 1971. She later attended Fitchburg State University in Fitchburg, MA, earning a master’s degree in English Education in 1976.
She and Robert F. Smith married on July 7, 1985, in Rindge, NH. Together they honeymooned on the French Riviera. Paula loved the location so much she had planned to retire there with Robert.
Paula truly enjoyed her time spent as an educator. She worked for Winchendon public schools as a high school English and French teacher. She was very popular with her peers and many of her students. After retirement she was a beloved, Weight Watcher Leader in Keene, NH.
She has always been a dog lover to so many special dogs over the years. Her love for dogs led her to be a strong supporter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Monadnock Humane Society. Paula was an avid sports fan; she loved the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots. She was very fond of literature, quilting, cross-stich, and cooking. She will be remembered for the thoughtfulness she exhibited to her family and friends when she would make homemade items for the new babies in her life.
Paula is predeceased by her parents, Paul and Pauline Couillard, and her husband of 26 years, Robert F. Smith.
She is survived by her step daughter, Kimberly and her husband, Bill O’Brien of North Swanzey, NH, her step grandchildren: Brooke and William O’Brien of North Swanzey, NH and Erin Pathode of Surry, NH, her sister Nancy and husband Frank Gaffney of Danvers, MA, her brother William Couillard of Salem, NH, her niece Brenna Gaffney of Boston, MA, and Shauna and her husband Jay Powers of Somerville, MA, her nephew and his wife Christopher and Robin Gaffney of Danvers, MA, her grandnephews: Jackson Powers of Somerville, MA and Brayden Gaffney of Danvers, MA and her grandniece Scarlett Powers of Somerville, MA and her friend Pam Forrest of Rindge, NH, who helped tremendously during Paula’s illness.