Published: 09/05/03

Mooers Forks — Gaetane A. Rabideau, 88, of Mooers Forks, died Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003, at the CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh.

She was born in St. Chrysostome, Quebec, on Dec. 7, 1914, the daughter of Wilfred and Emma (Rouleau) Rushford.

She was a member of St. Ann's Church in Mooers Forks.

She is survived by two sons and a daughter-in-law, Giles and Mary Lou Rabideau of Mooers Forks and Marcel Rabideau of Mooers Forks and his fiancée Lisa Scalley; a daughter, Mrs. Armand (Marie) Lafountain of Mooers Forks; two daughters-in-law, Shirley Rabideau-Bell and Theresa Rabideau; three brothers, Rene Rushford, Dalma Rushford and Real Rushford, all of Canada; three sisters, Alberta Vieu, Lucille Quintal and Simone Barbeau, all of Canada; 29 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Her husband, Armand J. Rabideau, died in 1992. Two sons, Raymond Rabideau in 1977 and Robert Rabideau in 2003, predeceased her. Four brothers, Il Dege, Romeo, Dorien and Roland and two sisters, Gertrude and Rhea, also died earlier.

Calling hours will be held on Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. at the E.F. Drown Funeral Service in Mooers. The Mooers Knights of Columbus will meet at the funeral home at 6 p.m. for services.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday from St. Ann’s Church in Mooers Forks. Interment will follow in the parish cemetery.

Easthampton, Mass. — Rev. John Simeon Branche, 73, a retired priest of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, died on Wednesday evening, Sept. 3, 2003, in Easthampton, Mass. Father had been under the care of Hospice while living with family members.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at St. Mary's Church in Northhampton on Saturday, Sept. 6th, at 10 a.m. with Rev. John Sullivan presiding. Rev. Msgr. Paul Whitmore is the homilist. Calling hours will be held at Ahern Funeral Home in Northhampton on Friday, Sept. 5th, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Following the funeral Liturgy, burial will take place at the parish cemetery.

Father Branche was born in Cape Vincent, N.Y., on Nov. 9, 1929, the son of the late Louis B. and Doris (Grimshaw) Branche.

He graduated from Cape Vincent Central High School and then attended Wadhams Hall Seminary College in Ogdensburg. His theological studies followed at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Md. Father Branche was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1954, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Ogdensburg by Bishop Walter P. Kellenberg.

Father Branche served as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Victory Church in Plattsburgh, St. John the Baptist Church in Keeseville and St. Mary's Cathedral in Ogdensburg. Father Branche then continued graduate studies and earned a doctorate in sacred theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. Returning to the Diocese, he served as chaplain at Mater Dei College in Ogdensburg and on the Diocesan Council of Catholic Men and Women. Father Branche then served as assistant pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Massena and then at St. Hubert Church in Star Lake. Father Branche also served as the diocesan Director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

In 1969, Father Branche volunteered to serve at the Diocesan Mission in Mollendo, Peru, where he remained for the next 12 years. During his years in Peru, he founded a home for needy Inca children, the House of the Inca Children. He cared for 25 children, eventually adopting 15. Upon his return to the United States, Father opened a home for his children in Puyallup, Wash. Several years later, his family moved to South Deerfield, Mass. In retirement, after the children were grown, he moved to the Bronx where he assisted with local parish needs.

In addition to his parents, Father Branche was predeceased by his sister, Betty Williams and two brothers, William and Thomas.

He is survived by three sisters, Patricia Krause, Jeanne Thompson of Cape Vincent and Mary Lou Cornare of Bath; and many nieces and nephews.

Hazel M. LaPlante, 92, of the Franklin County Nursing Home, died Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003, at that facility.

She was born in Malone, N.Y., on April 30,1911, the daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Fitzpatrick) Martin.

Calling hours will be Friday, Sept. 5, 2003, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. in the St. Mary-Murphy Funeral Home chapel. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Saturday, Sept. 6, 2003, at 10 a.m. in St. Joseph's Church. Burial will take place in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Fort Covington Street Road.

Witold M. Piasecki, 92, of Bombay, N.Y., formerly of Ft. Covington, died Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003, at the Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone.

He was born in Wiczenga, Poland, on Jan. 31, 1911, the son of the late Marian and Maria (Kantorska) Piasecki.

There are no calling hours. Funeral services and burial will be at the convenience of the family.

Arrangements are through the Cappiello-McKenzie and Cosgrove Funeral Home of Ft. Covington.

Connie Mills, 78, of Hurley Avenue in Lake Placid, died Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003, at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.

She was born in Convent Station, N.J., on Oct. 12, 1924, the daughter of Clifford and Beatrice (Osborne) Mills.

Friends may call at the Clark Funeral Home on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Rev. Mark Demers, pastor of the Adirondack Community Church, will officiate. Cremation will follow. Following the funeral service, a reception for friends and family will be held at the Lake Placid American Legion.

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