Published: 8/31/05

Plattsburgh — Virginia L. "Tonie" Higgins, 74, of Plattsburgh, died Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, at the CVPH Medical Center Skilled Nursing Facility in Plattsburgh.

She was born in Mooers on April 26, 1931, the daughter of Edward and Edna (Simpson) Higgins.

She graduated from Mooers Central School in 1949 where she was a cheerleader and a star athlete on the basketball team. She graduated from the Champlain Valley School of Nursing on March 9, 1953, as a registered nurse. Her nursing career at CVPH spanned over 35 years. She was an avid Red Sox fan and often watched the baseball game on TV while also listening to the game on the radio. She valued spending time with her family. Her final four years were spent being cared for more than anything in the Skilled Nursing Unit at CVPH. She thought of the staff as her extended family. Tonie touched hundreds of lives in the North Country through her expert nursing skills and her loving, compassionate way she worked with patients.

Whenever she went out in the North Country, people came up to her and said "do you remember me?" or "you took care of me or someone in my family." They would then turn to whoever was with her and say "she is the best nurse I ever knew."

She is survived by three brothers and sisters-in-law, John Bernard and Theresa Higgins of Massena, Walter Timothy and Carol Higgins of Malone and Clifton Henry and Joyce Higgins of Mooers; a sister and brother-in-law, Kathy and Richard Boulanger of Williston, Vt.; four nieces; seven nephews; four great-nieces; six great-nephews; seven great-great-nieces; two great-great-nephews; and several godchildren.

Calling hours will be held on Thursday from 1 to 3 and 6 to 8 p.m. at the E.F. Drown Funeral Service in Mooers. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 1 p.m. Friday from St. Joseph’s Church in Mooers. Interment will follow in the parish cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Skilled Nursing Facility, c/o Foundation of CVPH, 75 Beekman St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901.

Keeseville — Evelyn Rita Eastwood, 96, of Keeseville Country Gardens, died Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, at the CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh.

She was born in Framingham, Mass., Feb. 6, 1909, the daughter of Franklin J. and Florence J. (Dadmun) Morrill.

She worked for Worster Gas Light Company in Framingham, Mass.

She was a member of the Orono Methodist Church in Orono, Maine.

Evelyn was an avid reader and a lifetime Red Sox fan, but her true love was her family.

Survivors include her son-in-law and his wife, Ralph A. and Renee Julian of Peru; three grandchildren, Kelly M. and Shawn Sexton of Beekmantown, Kyle Lincoln and his girlfriend Rachel Renedette of Plattsburgh and Franchesca Julian of Peru; two great-grandsons, Gabriel Lloyd and Ryan Blake Sexton; several nieces and nephews; and her many friends at Keeseville Country Gardens.

She was predeceased by her parents; her husband, Earl B. Eastwood, May 2, 2001, whom she married Oct. 4, 1941, in Worchester, Mass.; and her daughter, Phyllis Lorraine Julian, March 19, 1991.

There will be no public calling hours. A prayer service will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at the Hamilton Funeral Home in Peru with the Rev. David Drake, pastor of the Good Shepard Church of the Nazarene in Keeseville, officiating. Burial will be private in God's Acre Cemetery in Peru.

Donations in her memory may be made to the FitzPatrick Cancer Center in Plattsburgh.

Mooers — Elizabeth M. Duquette, 91, of Mooers, died Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Theresa and Ed Bosley.

She was born in Detroit, Mich., April 1, 1914, the daughter of John and Julia (Schwartz) Stegner.

She was employed as an operator at the Champlain Telephone Company in Mooers for several years. She also operated a greenhouse and assisted her husband Lucien with the family farm. She was a member of St. Joseph’s Church in Mooers and enjoyed flowers and gardening.

She is survived by two sons and a daughter-in-law, Delor Duquette and his companion Eugena of Mooers and Lucien Jr. and Betty Duquette of Zephyrhills, Fla.; five daughters and sons-in-law, Loretta and Norbert Genereax of Toronto, Ontario, Rita and Louis Latour of Zephyrhills, Fla., Rose and Donald Colgan of Mooers Forks, Theresa and Ed Bosley of Mooers and Bernadette and Lionel DeCoste of Mooers; 23 grandchildren; and many great-grandchildren; great-great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.

Her husband, Lucien J. Duquette Sr. died in 1977; and a son, Robert died in 1957. A brother, David; and two sisters, Virginia and Ruth, also died earlier.

Calling hours will be held on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the E.F. Drown Funeral Service in Mooers. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 1 p.m. Wednesday from St. Joseph's Church in Mooers. Interment will follow in the parish cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hospice of the North Country.

LAVERN W. OLSON, 86, of 124 Antietam Drive, Waynesboro, died at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, 2005, in Waynesboro Hospital. He had been in failing health for the past six years.

Born Dec. 17, 1918, in Clinton, Wis., he was the son of the late Ole and Viola B. (Hahn) Olson.

Graveside services were held at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesboro with the Rev. Dr. Carol A. Kipe officiating. Military graveside honors were conducted by the honor guard of Charles Nitterhouse Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1599, Chambersburg.

Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home, Waynesboro was in charge of the arrangements.