1929 – 2016

DOVER, N.H. — Lorraine L. Dinardo, 87, formerly of Lewiston and a resident of Dover, N.H., for the past five years, died Monday, Dec. 19, at the Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover.

Born in Lewiston on Nov. 3, 1929, she was the daughter of Wilda and Elsie Wiriot Gagne, and was educated in local schools. At the age of 19, she met a young Italian paper mill worker from Berlin, N.H., named Albert Dinardo and he talked her into marrying him and moving north to Berlin, N.H.

On Feb. 12, 1949, she married and started her journey of living in the north country that lasted some 50 years. While raising three children during the day and working the second shift for Converse Rubber Co., Lorraine was known to never slow down and had the energy that would rival the “Energizer Bunny.” After Converse Rubber Co. closed its doors in 1979, Lorraine managed a woman’s clothing store named “House of Style” until her retirement in 1989.

She also developed a reputation as an excellent cook of Italian dishes that she learned from her in-laws who migrated to the United States from Sicily, Italy. Lorraine’s house always had someone visiting and enjoying the multiple-course meals that she would prepare. Cooking and being in her kitchen was the love of her life. Guests knew that Lorraine would always have a pot of coffee on the stove to share. Her pizza recipe is one that has been nicknamed “Grammie’s Pizza” by her grandchildren and has been passed down through the generations.

Always a gathering place for the holidays, Lorraine enjoyed entertaining large groups of people and loved to have music around her. It is known that Lorraine will kick up her feet and dance to any music, especially a good “polka!” Lorraine was involved in a major car accident in 2005 that nearly took her life, but her will to live and her desire to help others prevailed. Eventually, Lorraine returned to her birth place of Greene, until January 2012 when she moved to Dover, N.H., to be near her caring son.

Loving mother, hard worker, great cook and caretaker to all, she was most proud of her three children, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She is survived by two sons, Thomas of Dummer, N.H., and Gary and wife, Deena, of Dover, N.H.; a daughter, Debra Thalheimer of Lewiston; a brother, John Gagne and wife, Jean, of Greene; a sister, Veronica Thibault and husband, Emile, of Lewiston.

Besides her parents and husband, she was predeceased by five brothers, Guy, Bert, Richard, Guston and Raymond Gagne; and an infant granddaughter, Katherine, who died in 1979.

Condolences and donations may be found online at www.albert-burpee.com.