Obituary for
Ann K. Prudhomme (Arnold)
Northborough / W. Newbury
Ann Kathrine (Arnold) Prudhomme born in Imperial Valley CA on February 28th 1915 passed away gently in her sleep on August 17, 2017. She was 102 years old. During her life, she lived in and around the El Centro CA area, San Diego, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Maine. She leaves dear friends and family in each of these places, and beyond.
She was preceded in death by her husband Alfred R. Prudhomme, Sr., married 58 years, two loving daughter-in-law’s Marty Prudhomme and Gwen Prudhomme, and her 6 brothers and sisters. Living family members include a son Alfred R. Prudhomme, Jr in Chelmsford, MA, a son Arnold J. Prudhomme in Saratoga Springs, NY, and a daughter Barbara Prudhomme White and husband Kent White, in Newburyport, MA. She greatly enjoyed her grandchildren and their families: Melissa Prudhomme, husband John Oliver and son Griffin; Darcy Prudhomme-Jones, husband Peter and sons Jay and Bryson; Anne Marie Prudhomme-Cox, husband Jim and children Devin, Annelle, Juliette, and Jonathan; Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien, husband Peter and daughters Bjarna and Abbie; Taylor Anne Mickiewicz and husband Greg; Colin White; Brendan White, and her adopted granddaughter, Laura Guerriero. She also embraced and loved her step-grandchildren Don & Lynn Gray; Kip, Christine, Brett, & Rachel Gray, and Jennifer Gray. She leaves behind many cousins in and around the Massachusetts area, all of who claim her as Aunt or Grammy, as well as multiple nieces and nephews in California, Washington, Switzerland, and Canada; she loved her visits to all of these places, but felt an especially strong pull for home in California.
Ann was, simply, a loving, kind, and open-hearted person. She never knew a stranger; she never disparaged, judged or said a mean word about anyone, nor can any of us recall that she ever was angry with anyone. And she loved her family. She was the mother everyone loved and the Grammy everyone wished to adopt; a generous sister; a beloved cousin; the friend who was always there to provide, support, and do what was needed; the wife with extraordinary patience and love. She loved to cook and many of her recipes and her kitchen “rules of the road” will live on in family and friend legacy forever. How many of us learned to make pies from Grammy Ann? She loved “her” dogs Hank and Jack, even though Jack really belonged to our beloved friends Barb and Scott. She also loved to be in sunlight, no matter how intense or hot it might be. She loved to laugh, and even more so, she loved to share her stories about growing up in rural Imperial Valley in Southern California on a dairy farm, to Swiss immigrants. When asked why she thought she lived so long, she said it was her good, clean life and her “Swiss genes.”
We will remember you always, Mom, Grammy, Aunt, Cousin, and Friend. We hope that your endless optimism and generous loving, forgiving spirit will shower on us all to live a life that aspires to your legacy.
The family will hold a small service on Saturday, October 14th at 9 am at Hays Funeral Home in Northborough, MA. Later that day in the afternoon, we will hold a Celebration of Life --- details of which will be posted online in Facebook and on the funeral home website.
Instead of flowers, the family offers two of mom’s special nonprofits as places where she and the family may be remembered:
Krempels Center in Portsmouth, NH is a day-program for persons living with brain injury. Ann was a committed supporter of this program. https://www.krempelscenter.org/
Penacook Place, in Haverhill, MA, where she lived for the last year and in the care of a wonderfully caring and kind staff. We remain forever thankful for their loving attention to mom and us all. https://www.covenanthealth.net/locations/penacook-place
To leave or view condolences, please visit Ann’s Book of Memories at www.HaysFuneralHome.com.
