Marie Allene Thibeault died on April 9, 2022, in Fairfax, Va. She was 93.
Born on April 15, 1928, in Canton, Ohio to Marie Helene (Hickey) and Albert James Smith, Allene grew up in Quincy. As a young girl she learned how to hook rugs — a craft that became a lifelong passion.
She graduated from Quincy High School in 1946 and from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1950 with a degree in business.
At a sorority dance, Allene met her future husband, Donald Andrew Thibeault, who was studying agriculture. They were married on Sept. 2, 1950. He died in 2006.
Over the first 13 years of their marriage, Donald worked on farms across Pennsylvania, from State College to Mount Joy, Coudersport, Harrisburg, Fawn Grove, and Garcheville. During that time, the couple had four children.
Allene worried they would not be able to put their children through college on farm wages, according to her daughter Peggy. At his wife’s urging, Donald took a job with the federal school lunch program in 1963, and the family moved to Falls Church, Va. All four of their children graduated from college.
Allene was a devoted mother and a dedicated teacher of religion. She was a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine teacher for elementary school children in the Catholic Parish of Falls Church. She also led her eldest daughter’s Girl Scout troop for many years.
Every year, the family summered in Provincetown, where Allene owned and operated the Joshua Paine House, which she had inherited from her parents. The guest house has a long history, and Allene made it especially welcoming. “Anyone who stayed at the Joshua Paine House,” Peggy said, “is considered family.”
Allene’s children reveled in their Provincetown summers, but when the youngest, Nancy, was 16, she suffered a diving accident at the West End Racing Club that permanently affected her mobility. Allene was devoted to her care and well-being, and Nancy helped with the guest house. Nancy died in 2014.
Allene became an active member of the Provincetown Council on Aging, attending summer luncheons with the same group of friends at the same table each week. She participated in the senior exercise program and enjoyed frequent trips with her senior center friends.
She continued to make hooked rugs throughout her life, which her children, grandchildren, and friends cherish. She was a longtime member of Mary Burton’s “Mary’s Little Lambs” rug hooking club in Falls Church, a prayer group that met monthly for nearly 40 years.
She loved to garden, and as her vision failed her in her later years, she found satisfaction in audio books.
Allene is survived by three children, Teresa and husband Richard Ciccotelli of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Donald and wife Kathleen Thibeault of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and Margaret and husband Robert Sudberry of Fairfax, Va.; and by six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
The family will have a private memorial service. To share condolences with them, visit tinyurl.com/MarieAThibeaultObit.
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