KENNEBUNK – Juliette Therese Laferriere Stathoplos, mom, grandmother, aunt, sister, wife and artist, died Dec. 27, 2020 at Huntington Common with her children at her side.

Born July 15, 1930 on a farm in Plaisted to Leon and Eva Laferriere, Juliette was the fifth of 11 children and as the first girl, she quickly became her mother’s right hand. Raised in a close-knit French-speaking family, she learned English in the 4th grade when her teacher required her French students to speak only English. With countless chores to do on the farm, and the teasing from her nine brothers, Juliette developed a resilience to go with her innate positive outlook on life.

At 17, dancing at a local club, she was spotted by a scout who wanted her to enter the Miss Fort Kent contest on behalf of the Lions Club. Reluctant at first, she entered, won, and always remembered the rambunctious Lions’ roar they gave her.

At 19 she was hired by McNally’s Sporting Camp on Clayton Lake, cooking three meals a day for scores of sportsmen and becoming so loved by the owners that they wanted to adopt her. Soon after, working in sales for J.C. Penney, she quickly became their top salesperson. When refused a raise she had been promised, she walked out on her lunch hour and secured a job at a rival store. J.C. Penney gave her the raise.

Introduced to Manhattan on a trip there with the McNallys, she ended up modelling for a year at Saks 5th Avenue as their “all-American girl”. Always one to downplay her time at Saks, Juliette was a classy dresser, who loved shopping for bargains, knowing you don’t need a lot of money to dress well, just a good eye.

Working one winter in Dover, N.H., she met Aristides “Harry” Stathoplos on a blind date. Juliette liked him immediately, but wasn’t about to be tied down. Harry had met his true love and told her “You go ahead and date other people. I’m not going to.” Harry soon won her over and they married Jan. 17, 1954. Juliette always said he gave the best hugs ever.

After a year living in Lancaster, N.H., they moved to Walpole, N.H. where they raised their three children Karen, Lisa and Mark. With nothing but Harry’s meager teaching salary, and her own unrivalled flair for decorating, Juliette made every home an elegant yet cozy and welcoming haven for the family.

Finding she had a talent for painting, she had a particular fondness for painting flowers on driftwood. She loved to tell the story of a teacher, who had so disliked her painting of a barn, she said “wipe that off and start again!” Juliette paid no attention. Later, at one of Harry and Juliette’s festive dinner parties, Juliette smiled when that teacher couldn’t stop exclaiming “oh, how wonderful! You can see forever over that barn!”

The family spent summers from 1957-1967 in Maine where Harry and Julie ran the Dairy Bar on the front of Ogunquit Beach. Customers came from far and wide for Juliette’s home-baked cupcakes, date nut crumbles and whoopie pies. In February 1968, they moved full-time to Wells where they bought a small Inn. After a flurry of wallpapering, painting, tearing down walls and redecorating, they opened Fisherman’s Cove Inn providing summer guests with a welcoming retreat right on the ocean. Speaking French, Juliette found that many Canadian visitors loved staying where they were able to speak their own language.

Loving to dance, they were regulars at The Colony and The Shawmut Inn in Kennebunkport. The bands knew that once Harry and Julie swept onto the dance floor, other couples would follow.

After the storm surge of the Blizzard of 1978 nearly destroyed their little oceanside Inn, Harry and Julie decided to move further away from the sea. With her love and knowledge of antiques, Juliette opened her antique shop The Maine Roost in the garage of their new house on Route One.

Soon after its inception in 1992 she joined the International Women’s Club of New England. There she met friends for life in the like-minded strong women of all nationalities. Always a voracious reader, she was one of the founders of their Book Club and always hosted their much-anticipated poetry evenings in September. An instinctive and creative cook, she gaily demonstrated making baklava for the Club with a humor to rival that of Julia Child.

Juliette was a natural healer. Her immediate family knew it and her large extended families on both Greek and French sides benefited from her healing powers. She knew the power of old-fashioned remedies, balancing that with her avid reading of the Merck Manual.

Juliette was never happier than when surrounded by family and friends telling stories, chortling, hugging and enjoying life. She was the most upbeat, supportive, hopeful, no-nonsense, joyful person many of us will ever know. At the family dinner for the last Thanksgiving of his life, Harry raised a glass to Julie and made this toast: “On a blind date, I hit the jackpot.”

She was predeceased by her beloved Harry; seven brothers, Lionel, Lucien, Norman, Orel, Reggie, Pat and Jimmy and sister, Annette.

She is survived by her three children and their partners, Karen Stathoplos and Kim Krauss, Lisa Stathoplos and Michael Crockett and Mark and Shay Stathoplos; her grandchildren, Gelsey, Luke and Chris; brothers Roy Laferriere and Joel Laferriere and wife Sandra, sisters-in-law, Betty Laferriere, Antigone Evangelou, Diana Little; and a gaggle of much-loved nieces and nephews.

Heartfelt thanks to the doctors, nurses, helpers, family and friends whose love and many kindnesses helped gladden and delight Juliette in her last years on the planet.

A celebration of Juliette’s life will be held as soon as a gathering with hugs, tears, laughter, stories, singing and more hugs is considered safe.

Donations may be made to

Laudholm Trust

P.O. Box 1007

Wells, ME 04090

in Juliette’s memory