WESTBROOK – Dianne LeConte, the longtime librarian at the Walker Memorial Library who was active in the community and had a passion for helping people, died early Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 78.
Mrs. LeConte began working as a reference librarian at Walker Memorial Library in 1964. Soon after, she became an assistant librarian. She worked there for 42 years and retired in 2006.
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“She knew an awful lot of people in the city,” said her husband, Paul LeConte, a former Westbrook city councilor. “She helped a lot of students with school projects. She got a lot of satisfaction out of helping people.”
Mrs. LeConte had a lifelong love for Westbrook, where she grew up and graduated from Westbrook High in 1952.
It was there, she met her husband.
He said Monday that they were “high school sweethearts.”
The couple got married after high school and lived in Westbrook, where they raised four children.
They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Dec. 26.
Mrs. LeConte was remembered by her family Monday as a kind, sharing and loving person.
Her husband said she was well-respected in the community.
“She loved this city,” he said. “She liked a lot of people and they liked her. She was a very remarkable woman in my opinion. She was undoubtedly the nicest person I’ve ever met and the person I loved the most.”
Mrs. LeConte was active in the Westbrook Historical Society for many years.
Around 2009, she co-wrote and published a book, “Girl of the Past.”
She also wrote editorials on current events and local politics for local newspapers.
“She was opinionated about things happening in Westbrook very colorfully animated,” said her son, Michael LeConte, of Westbrook.
“Most of the editorials she wrote had this tongue-and-cheek humor. I loved her honesty her tell-it-like-it-is persona. It was honest, straight forward and true.”
Mrs. LeConte was an avid reader, who enjoyed traveling and frequented casinos to play the slot machines.
Her son said she enjoyed spending time with family.
“She was the best mother,” her son said.
“She gave us a lot of self-confidence to go out in the world and make our own way. She was special to us all. She was one in a million.”
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:
mcreamer@pressherald.com
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