SACO — Lucille Annette (Martin) Fennell of Saco passed away peacefully Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019 at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough from complications of a stroke suffered in August 2018.
She was born on Nov. 18, 1923 in Saint André, New Brunswick. She was the daughter of Adolphe H. Martin and Délima (Cyr) Martin. She was educated in New Brunswick and local schools graduating from Thornton Academy in the Class of 1942.
In 1946, she married the love of her life, James Fennell, whom she met at a Thornton vs. North Quincy High School football game at Thornton Academy in 1941.
Lucille owned and operated Keegan Kennels on U.S. Route 1 in Saco. In 1963, Lucille and her husband took over Keegan Kennels from her father, who raised champion stock AKC puppies, mainly poodles, schnauzers, and boxers along with several other breeds. The kennel was started by her father in 1922 in St. André, New Brunswick as Lou Lou’s Kennels then moved it to Keegan, Maine renaming it Keegan Kennels. In 1933 they relocated to the Saco area where she lived for over 80 years.
While raising four children, Lucille was a professional groomer for 40 years. After the passing of her husband in 1992, Lucille took over the dog boarding business and continued until 2017 when she turned 94. In her younger years she showed Great Pyrenees dogs at the Westminster Dog Show and also showed dogs at the Philadelphia Dog Show winning several ribbons at these events.
She was very proud to have become a U.S. citizen as a teenager. She loved the National Anthem of the United States and would watch it on TV whenever possible. Lucille was also proud of her French Acadian heritage from Nova Scotia and being a descendant of the Acadians immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Evangeline.” She was a life member of the Acadian Genealogical & Historical Association.
Lucille enjoyed time with her grandchildren and great-granddaughters. She was also an avid organist, cook, painter, and flower gardener. She was a devoted Catholic and helper of the needy in the local area and missionaries in the Philippines. She once shipped a piano and a truckload of books to the Catholic missionaries in the Philippines. She was a parishioner of Notre Dame de Lourdes and Good Shepherd Parish in Saco.
In the late 1930s she enjoyed dancing to the big bands such as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller and others on the Old Orchard Beach Pier.
Lucille was predeceased by her parents; husband James; a sister also named Lucille and a younger brother Fernand who both died as young children.
She is survived by son Daniel of Biddeford, son Steven and his wife Cathy of Old Orchard Beach, son Patrick and his wife June of Saco and daughter Marilou (Fennell) Lachance of Saco. She was also known as “Grammy” to her grandchildren Scott Fennell and his wife Stephanie, Kelly Fennell, Martina (Lachance) Papi and her husband Michael, Anthony Lachance and his fiancé Michelle, André Lachance, and two great-granddaughters Lucille (Lucy) Joy Fennell and Olivia Joy Fennell.
Her family wishes to thank the wonderful nurses, doctors and staff of St. André Health Care Facility in Biddeford where she resided for nearly five months and also the staff at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. James School in Biddeford, Maine, or to the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk, Maine or to the St. André Memory Care Garden fund in Biddeford.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday, March 4, 2019, at Most Holy Trinity Church in Saco. Burial will follow in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Saco.
To view Lucille’s memorial page or leave an online condolence, please visit www.cotefuneralhome.com
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