BIDDEFORD — Roseanne L. Cote of Biddeford passed away in her home, with her husband by her side, on Sunday morning, Nov. 23, 2014. She had been in home hospice care for the last several weeks.
Roseanne was born in Northville, Michigan, the daughter of Urban and Eleanor Barkway Perreault. Eleanor died soon after giving birth.
Roseanne was raised in Biddeford in the home of her uncle, Dr. Oscar Perrault, and his wife, Dorothy Seidel Perrault.
A graduate of St. Joseph’s College in Standish, where she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Roseanne taught English at Biddeford High School for 25 years. Upon retirement, she and her husband, Arnold, served in the Peace Corps in a mountainous village in Honduras. Roseanne spoke English, French and Spanish.
Roseanne was a charter member of the Biddeford Clam Commission, a long-serving member of the Biddeford Pool Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary, an officer in the former Webber Hospital Auxiliary, and a five-year board member of the Biddeford City Theater. She regularly attended and supported live theater in Biddeford and Portland, and was an active patron of the McArthur Library all her life and especially enjoyed the book club. She was also a longtime member of the Tri-City Chorus.
An inveterate traveler with a keen interest in European and Asian cultures, Roseanne toured ”“ sometimes with Arnold, sometimes with her dear companion, Sylvia Coulombe ”“ in more than 40 countries, including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Turkey Greece, the Balkans and most of western Europe. She kept an eye on the political, diplomatic and religious news right to her final days.
She was preceded in death by: her nephew, Hal Jr.
Roseanne is survived by: her loving husband of 49 years, Arnold Cote of Biddeford; her brother, John and his wife Holly and their daughters Tracie and Kristen of North Hampton, Hew Hampshire; her brothers-in-law, Harold and his wife Carol Murphy Cote of Fort Myers, Florida, and Brother Charles; sisters-in-law, Charlene Cote Cummings and her husband Rod of Auburn and her children Jeffery, Jason and Ingrid, and Sister Marie; and several cousins, in-laws and dear friends.
A memorial Mass will be said for Roseanne at St. Brendan’s Church in Biddeford Pool on May 22, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, Roseanne wished that donations in her memory be made to her beloved McArthur Public Library in Biddeford.
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