Obituary: John Paul Lavigne, 1945-2023 

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• Courtesy
• John Lavigne

John Paul Lavigne, a lifelong Vermonter and resident of Charlotte, Vt., since 1968, passed away due to a sudden illness at the UVM Medical Center on September 28, 2023, surrounded by his family.

John was born November 27, 1945, the fourth child of Germaine (Begin) Lavigne and Eugene Lavigne of Burlington, Vt., formerly of Québec. He grew up on Hayward Street in Burlington, graduated from Burlington High School in 1965, then went on to serve six years in the Vermont National Guard.

John loved driving and found a career where he got to do just that. He was a driver for several local oil companies, where his favorite part — in addition to getting to spend time driving — was getting to know his customers. He then went on to drive for Nabisco, where he enjoyed sampling and sharing the products with family and friends. After retiring from Nabisco, he worked for Country Home Products where, again, he enjoyed meeting and connecting with people. After finally retiring from work, he then went on to become a longtime volunteer with the Charlotte Food Shelf, which brought him great purpose and great friends.

He was married in 1980 to Susan Harvey, and they built a life together at their home in Charlotte and their beloved camp on Monkton Pond. In 1983, they welcomed their first child, Kristine, and began their adventure together as parents, welcoming their second child, Josh, in 1986.

Family life was full of togetherness, nature, silliness, exploring and spending time together.

In 2011, John became a pépère for the first time with the arrival of his first grandchild, which gave him a new role in life that he lovingly embraced. He was blessed to have a total of four grandchildren with him on earth, Kinsey, Sawyer, Rowen and Abel, and two grandchildren that we know he is getting to hug in heaven, Ryker and Baby Lavigne.

His hobbies included gardening, canoeing, horseshoes, tinkering and puttering in his garage on repair projects, feeding the birds, trying to keep the squirrels out of his feeders, baking sweet treats and being a good landlord to his growing flock of purple martins.

John is survived by his wife, Susan Lavigne; his children, Kristine Reynolds (Nicholas Reynolds) and Josh Lavigne (Dawn Duell); his grandchildren, Kinsey and Rowen Reynolds and Sawyer and Abel Lavigne; his twin sister Jane (Lavigne) Guerin (Armand Guerin) and his sister Theresa Neilsen, all of Largo, Fla. He is predeceased by his sister Louise Ragis and her husband, Ronald Ragis, and two grandchildren, Ryker Reynolds and Baby Lavigne.

Visiting hours will be held Friday October 13, 2023, from 4-7 p.m., at the Corbin and Palmer Funeral Home, 209 Falls Rd., Shelburne, VT. Funeral Services will be held at St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church, 72 Church St., Shelburne, VT, on Saturday, October 14, 2023, at 11 a.m., followed immediately by lunch in the church hall.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Charlotte Food Shelf, PO Box 83, Charlotte, VT, 05445, or online at charlotteucc.org/charlotte-food-shelf. To send online condolences to his family, please visit vtfuneralhomes.com.