NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Margaret Elizabeth Lanoue, 85, of 27 Chesbro Ave., died Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003, at North Adams Regional Hospital, where she had been admitted Nov. 27.

Born in North Adams on July 1, 1918, daughter of Thomas Henry and Mildred Harrington Quinn, she attended schools in North Adams and graduated from Drury High School in 1936.

Mrs. Lanoue had been the administrative assistant for the former the Northern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce for 24 years, retiring in 1984. Prior to that, she was employed by the former Gale Shoe Co. for three years and then by the former W.B. Plunkett Memorial Hospital in Adams for 5 1/2 years. She also taught sewing to Drury High School students in the evening division for 20 years. 

Her work and community efforts were recognized with the Spirit of Massachusetts Tourism and Hospitality Award in 1988 and the Carol Hess Community Award in 2003. Mrs. Lanoue and her late husband, Chester H. Lanoue, a director of the Fall Foliage Festival Parade, were selected to serve as the grand marshals for the parade in 1977.

Mrs. Lanoue was a lifelong communicant of St. Francis of Assisi Church, where she was a member of the Holy Rosary Society. She was an active member of the Northern Berkshire Business and Professional Women's Club for 24 years, serving in all the offices of the club, including president. She was a member of the Friends of the North Adams Public Library and the North Adams Garden Club, where she served as secretary. She was a 25-year member of the Heptones, serving as president and international president for International Organization for Harmony Inc.

She was associated with the Girl Scouts program in North Adams for 20 years and was den mother for five years. She also was a member and treasurer of the Clarksburg Senior Center.

She and her husband were married June 24, 1939, in St. Francis of Assisi Church. He died Nov. 28, 1989.

She leaves three daughters, Geraldine Shead and her husband, Robert, of Deland, Fla., Kathleen Lambert and her husband, George, of Milford, Pa., and North Adams City Clerk Marilyn Gomeau of North Adams; two sons, Robert Chester Lanoue and his wife, Virginia, of Ansonia, Conn., and Timothy Quinn Lanoue and his wife, Martha, of Naugatuck, Conn.; a sister, Dorothy Howell of Louisville, Ky.; a sister-in-law, Jeannette Holmes; 14 grandchildren, Michelle Malesky, Brian Lanoue, Melanie Rice, Holly Aschoff, Nancy Shafer, Kimberly Malzahn, Stephen Shead, Catherine Post, Paul Shead, Christine Shead, Joshua Lanoue, Alison Lanoue, Jessica Phillips and Robert Gomeau Jr.; and 14 great-grandchildren, Brian Lanoue, Matthew Lanoue, Megan Rice, Sera Shafer, Melissa Shafer, Jackson Shafer, Casey Malzahn, Jacob Malzahn, Christopher Shead, Andrea Shead, Madison Post, Samantha Post, Brandon Lanoue and Bruce Lanoue.

FUNERAL NOTICE — Funeral Services for Margaret Elizabeth Quinn Lanoue will take place Tuesday at 9:15 a.m. at FLYNN & DAGNOLI-MONTAGNA HOME FOR FUNERALS, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams, followed by a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church, North Adams. Burial will follow in Southview Cemetery, North Adams.

Calling hours at the funeral home are Monday from 4 to 8. Memorial donations are suggested for the North Adams Public Library Renovation Fund, the North Adams Ambulance Service, or St. Francis' Church.