Robert William Auge

04/08/2005

Robert William Auge, 58, of 142 Marion Ave., a longtime area funeral director, died Friday at North Adams Regional Hospital after a motorcycle crash earlier that day. Born in North Adams on Jan. 16, 1947, son of Raymond W. and Alice M. Muller Auge, he was raised in Williamstown and graduated from Mount Greylock Regional High School. He graduated in 1968 from New England Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences in Boston, with his diploma in mortuary science. He also attended Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield. Mr. Auge first worked for the former John H. Quinn Funeral Home in Williamstown. Following his college studies, he worked at the former Simmons Funeral Home. He then moved to Vail, Colo., for a period, working at several ski resorts there. He returned to this area and became one of the first managers of food and beverage for the Snow Lake Resort at Mount Snow Ski Area in Dorset, Vt. He purchased Pringle Funeral Home on East Main Street in 1973, renaming it Auge-Pringle Funeral Home. In 1979, he purchased San Soucie Funeral Home on Quincy Street and operated from both locations until buying Simmons Funeral Home and A.C. Simmons Funeral Home in Adams in 1981, at which time he merged all of the North Adams businesses into Auge-San Soucie-Simmons Funeral Home at its current location on North Church Street. In 1986, A.C. Simmons became Auge-Paciorek-Simmons Funeral Home, and in 1989, moved from Park Street in Adams to its current location on Hoosac Street. He served on the City Council for one term starting in 1979. He was a communicant of Notre Dame Church, where he served on the parish council and the bingo committee, and taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes. He was a member of the Northern Berkshire Industrial Development Commission, a former director of the Visiting Nurse Association and a corporator of Hoosac Bank. He was cited as an Outstanding Young Man by the "Outstanding Young Men of America" publication in 1976, only one of seven in this region. He enjoyed skiing, golfing and traveling in Vermont. He leaves a son, Ryan W. Auge of North Adams; a daughter, Candice G. Auge of Crane Hill, Ala.; a brother, Bruce Auge of Milford, N.H.; three sisters, Jean Walden of North Adams, Carole Bush of Phenix City, Ala., and Sharon Fleury of Williamstown, and his former wife of 23 years, Claudine R. Auge of North Adams. FUNERAL NOTICE -- The funeral for Robert William Auge will be Wednesday, April 13, at 12:15 from AUGE-SAN SOUCIE-SIMMONS Funeral Home, 46 North Church St., North Adams, followed by a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 1:30 in St. Francis of Assisi Church, North Adams. Burial will follow in the family lot in Eastlawn Cemetery in Williamstown. Calling hours will be tomorrow, April 12, from 4 to 7 at the funeral home. Memorial donations may be made to the Robert W. Auge Memorial Scholarship Fund through the funeral home. To leave a message of condolence, please go online to www.apsfuneralhome.com. He also leaves his daughter's fiancÃ©, Loren Dickey; two uncles, Dr. Bernard Auge, DDS, of Pittsfield, and Thomas Muller of York, Pa., and his lifelong friend, Teresa Siciliano of North Adams.

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