Roger Omer Gibeault, a longtime Burlington, Vt., resident recently of Shelburne, Vt., died on September 23, 2025, at the McClure Miller Respite House, surrounded by his family. Roger was predeceased by his first wife, Yseult “Hazel” (Dubois) Gibeault, in 1986. Roger is survived by Mary McGinley, his beloved wife of 29 years; his children, John (Beeb), Paul (Mandy) and Louise Beaudoin; and sister, Pauline Dubois. Roger also leaves behind his grandchildren, Charlotte (James), Sage, Paula, Andy, Nicole and Alex; great-grandchildren, Victoria (Owen), Hailey and Addison; stepchildren, Joseph Hotung, Patrick Hotung (Lisa), Ann Hotung and Ellen Hotung (Steve Boyd); and stepgrandchildren, Alex and Nicole.
Roger was born in Addison, Vt., in 1932 to Eloise Charette Gibeault and Ernest Alfred Gibeault. They spoke only French in the home, and he first learned English in a one-room schoolhouse in Addison. As a boy, he worked on the family farm and loved to fish in the waters nearby.
Roger graduated from Vergennes High School and Moreau Barber School in Montréal. He was drafted in 1954, served two years in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged. For six years he worked as a barber with brother-in-law Camile Dubois. For 27 years Roger was employed by the company that is now Champlain Cable. As supervisor of technical services, he oversaw a laboratory and the technical paperwork needed to operate it.
Roger was a devout Catholic in belief and action. As a boy and young adult, he served Mass. Later, he was president of Vermont Cursillo, a lay program emphasizing prayer, study and action to bring God’s love and grace to daily interactions with others. In 1986 Roger cofounded Vermont Dismas House, a halfway house for prisoners returning to the community, where he continued his involvement for nearly 40 years. For 14 years Roger and his wife, Mary, held an annual plant sale at their home and donated proceeds to Dismas House.
Roger was energetic and active in causes he believed in. He volunteered at the Chittenden Community Correctional Center for 30 years, where he taught classes to help prisoners make better decisions by examining and changing their thoughts and behaviors. As a widower of his first wife, Roger welcomed immigrant refugees on their way to Canada into his home. Later in life, Roger and his wife, Mary, volunteered for community causes in Vermont and in Brownsville ,Texas, where he and Mary wintered for many years.
Roger was an avid gardener with a green thumb, an activist for social justice and an avid reader. He loved sailing, which he took up in his sixties, and enjoyed watercolor painting. Roger delighted in travel with Mary, and they enjoyed trips to Europe, Mexico and El Salvador. Roger devoted his time to wife Mary, family, friends and the causes he believed in.
Family and friends are invited to call on Friday, October 3, 2025, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Ready Funeral Home, 261 Shelburne Rd., Burlington, VT. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, October 4, 2025, 11 a.m., at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 72 Church St., Shelburne, VT.
Interment will be on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 1 p.m., at Resurrection Park Cemetery, 200 Hinesburg Rd., Burlington.
Arrangements are in the care of the Ready Funeral & Cremation Services. To send online condolences, please visit readyfuneral.com.
This article appears in Oct 1-7 2025.