IN MEMORIAM

The names of the deceased below have been received by Thornton Academy since Postscripts was last published . We rely on friends and family to send us obituaries ( especially for alumni who live outside of Maine ) by mail or through a form on our website : thorntonacademy . org / stayintouch .

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Helen G . Peck Sylvestre passed peacefully on the evening of Saturday , October 17 , 2020 at home with her children and grandchildren by her side after an eight year battle with Alzheimer ’ s disease .

Helen was born on June 28 , 1935 . She was the oldest of the seven children of Daniel and Germaine Lamontagne Peck . She had a keen recollection of her youth growing up on Storer Street in Saco . She loved playing basketball and “ raising Cain ” with her friends . She told of how she and friends would skip school as early as kindergarten , and how detention began at Thornton Academy shortly after her arrival . She liked to raise hell , “ good clean fun ” she would say . She left an impression with her teachers who would comment as her siblings entered TA , “ Oh no , not another Peck !” She graduated from Thornton in 1953 and worked as a bookkeeper for Woolworths in Biddeford .

In 1955 , she married Donald , her husband of 56 years . In the early 70s they opened Don ’ s Variety on Bradley Street in Saco and ran it until they retired . She took care of her children and the house , and worked at the store each afternoon , while spending early mornings and late evenings doing the books and baking desserts for the business . To say she was a hard worker would be an understatement — she never stopped . Helen always put the needs of others before her own . She enjoyed baking , gardening , crafts , walking , shopping , collecting Hummels , playing cards , seafood , jelly donuts , Natural Lite beer , caring for her husband , and the holidays . She loved Christmas music , laughter and time with her kids and grandkids , and of course , her black T-top Firebird with red interior !

Thornton Academy receives numerous memorial donations each year recognizing members of the TA community who have passed away . Thank you to all who choose to remember loved ones in this way . If you would like to make a donation in honor or memory of a loved one , please contact the TA Development Office at 207-602-4456 or visit thorntonacademy . org / give .