Obituary for Jeannette Sproul
Jeannette Lebel Sproul
(1932-2022)
FARMINGTON – Jeannette Lebel Sproul, 89, of Farmington, died June 17 at The Pierce House, an assisted-living home for the elderly.
She was born July 10, 1932, in Augusta, the second of three children of Joel P. and Rose (Croteau) Lebel. The family later moved to Brunswick. She graduated from Brunswick High School in 1950 and from Gorham State Teachers College (now part of the University of Southern Maine) in 1954. She was a first-grade teacher for more than 40 years, first briefly in Lewiston and Augusta, then for the majority of her career in Farmington.
Jeannette married fellow elementary school teacher Paul F. “Bucky” Sproul, of Augusta, in 1957. They resided for the entire 57 years of their marriage in Farmington, raising their two children there. Paul died in 2014.
Jeannette was a past president of the Maine Reading Association; a 40-year member of Delta Kappa Gamma International, a professional association of women who are educators; a member of MEA-Retired, an affiliate of the Maine Education Association; and a Farmington Food Pantry volunteer. After retiring from teaching, she worked at the University of Maine at Farmington cafeteria.
Jeannette also was a longtime skier and Farmington Ski Club member who worked at the Titcomb Mountain ski slope commissary and helped run the ski area’s Nana Webber Program, a ski school for children. Her enthusiasm for skiing was all the more remarkable because of the fact that she and her longtime ski partner, Dot Wing, didn’t start skiing until they were 36.
The first year, each of them fell off a poma lift. Jeannette landed in snow so deep that she had difficulty climbing out of it. She walked down the hill. Gradually, however, both women’s skills improved. They quickly began to enjoy skiing, and they continued doing it into their late 70s.
“When you ski, everything else is gone,” Jeannette told the Franklin Journal newspaper in a 2007 interview. “You don’t have to think of anything. Everything else just gets left at home.”
Jeannette and Paul cherished time spent with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They also traveled widely in retirement, taking trips to Alaska, Aruba, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Panama and China, as well as a European river cruise.
Jeannette’s brother, Normal Lebel, and her sister, Constance Lebel Michaud, died earlier.
Her survivors include daughter Lee Jane Libby, of Westbrook; son Joel Sproul and his wife, Dr. Elena Theodosiou, and their son, Jacob Sproul, of Delmar, New York; grandson Ryan Schwartz, wife Shannon Schwartz and their children, Sophia and Mason, of Biddeford; grandson Jamison Schwartz, wife Kathryn Schwartz and their children, Henry and Aida, of Gorham; and two sisters-in-law, Constance Ouellette Lebel, of Swampscott, Massachusetts, and Pauline Marceau, of Winslow.
Relatives and friends are invited to a memorial visitation Friday from 4-6 pm at the Wiles Remembrance Center, 137 Farmington Falls Road, Farmington. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday at 10 am from St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Middle Street, Farmington, where Jeannette was a longtime parishioner and member of the Altar Guild. Following Mass, refreshments will be served at the Parish Hall. In place of flowers, donations may be sent in her memory to The Pierce House, 204 Main St., Farmington, ME 04938, where Jeannette spent her final years.
(1932-2022)
FARMINGTON – Jeannette Lebel Sproul, 89, of Farmington, died June 17 at The Pierce House, an assisted-living home for the elderly.
She was born July 10, 1932, in Augusta, the second of three children of Joel P. and Rose (Croteau) Lebel. The family later moved to Brunswick. She graduated from Brunswick High School in 1950 and from Gorham State Teachers College (now part of the University of Southern Maine) in 1954. She was a first-grade teacher for more than 40 years, first briefly in Lewiston and Augusta, then for the majority of her career in Farmington.
Jeannette married fellow elementary school teacher Paul F. “Bucky” Sproul, of Augusta, in 1957. They resided for the entire 57 years of their marriage in Farmington, raising their two children there. Paul died in 2014.
Jeannette was a past president of the Maine Reading Association; a 40-year member of Delta Kappa Gamma International, a professional association of women who are educators; a member of MEA-Retired, an affiliate of the Maine Education Association; and a Farmington Food Pantry volunteer. After retiring from teaching, she worked at the University of Maine at Farmington cafeteria.
Jeannette also was a longtime skier and Farmington Ski Club member who worked at the Titcomb Mountain ski slope commissary and helped run the ski area’s Nana Webber Program, a ski school for children. Her enthusiasm for skiing was all the more remarkable because of the fact that she and her longtime ski partner, Dot Wing, didn’t start skiing until they were 36.
The first year, each of them fell off a poma lift. Jeannette landed in snow so deep that she had difficulty climbing out of it. She walked down the hill. Gradually, however, both women’s skills improved. They quickly began to enjoy skiing, and they continued doing it into their late 70s.
“When you ski, everything else is gone,” Jeannette told the Franklin Journal newspaper in a 2007 interview. “You don’t have to think of anything. Everything else just gets left at home.”
Jeannette and Paul cherished time spent with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They also traveled widely in retirement, taking trips to Alaska, Aruba, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Panama and China, as well as a European river cruise.
Jeannette’s brother, Normal Lebel, and her sister, Constance Lebel Michaud, died earlier.
Her survivors include daughter Lee Jane Libby, of Westbrook; son Joel Sproul and his wife, Dr. Elena Theodosiou, and their son, Jacob Sproul, of Delmar, New York; grandson Ryan Schwartz, wife Shannon Schwartz and their children, Sophia and Mason, of Biddeford; grandson Jamison Schwartz, wife Kathryn Schwartz and their children, Henry and Aida, of Gorham; and two sisters-in-law, Constance Ouellette Lebel, of Swampscott, Massachusetts, and Pauline Marceau, of Winslow.
Relatives and friends are invited to a memorial visitation Friday from 4-6 pm at the Wiles Remembrance Center, 137 Farmington Falls Road, Farmington. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday at 10 am from St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Middle Street, Farmington, where Jeannette was a longtime parishioner and member of the Altar Guild. Following Mass, refreshments will be served at the Parish Hall. In place of flowers, donations may be sent in her memory to The Pierce House, 204 Main St., Farmington, ME 04938, where Jeannette spent her final years.