Jeannette (Tubias) Salome, 88, of Uxbridge, passed away June 25, 2018 in the Lydia Taft House. She was the wife of the late Louis J. Salome, Jr. whom she married on October 1, 1949. Born in Woonsocket, RI, she was the daughter of the late John and Katherine (Kotwica) Tubias.
She is survived by four sons, Richard Salome and his wife Alison of Sacramento, CA, Robert Salome and his wife Karin of Laconia, NH, Kenneth Salome and his wife Karole Nicholson of Attleboro, MA, and Donald Salome of Uxbridge, MA; two grandsons, Jeremy and Lukas; three great-grandchildren, Mika, Elina, and Etta; as well as multiple cousins. She was the sister of the late Walter and Edward Tubias. Her funeral will be held Saturday June 30, 2018 beginning with visitation at 9 AM in the Holt Funeral Home, 510 South Main St. Woonsocket, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 AM in St. Augustine Church, 15 Lincoln Street, Millville, MA.
Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: David’s House, 461 Mt. Support Road, Lebanon, NH 03766.
David’s House provides a home-away-from-home and support for families with children receiving treatment through the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Jeannette’s grandchild Lukas and his wife Kaitlyn have been staying at David’s House until their sixteen week premature daughter Etta is healthy enough to go home with them. Her headstone will include the usual information, her name along with the dates of her birth and death plus one small, but very significant detail.
Nobody would accuse you of mistaken identity by calling her Jeannette. But, you would be wrong. Well, maybe.
Birth certificates were hit or miss back in 1929 and hers was a miss. Baptismal records acted as substitutes. Simple enough until we discovered that she has two baptismal certificates issued six days apart, the earlier declaring her first name as Florence, the second as Jeannette.
So, who was she? She grew up and lived most of her life in Uxbridge but, her real home town was Millville. It was in Millville where she lived out her life, most of her friends resided, sang in choirs, and attended church and most social events.
She married her lifelong husband, Louis, a few days shy of her twentieth birthday. They had four sons, who rewarded them with two grandsons, Lukas and Jeremy. (A paltry sum considering she had four boys.
Don’t ask. ) Quantity is no substitute for quality, which is the case with Lukas and Jeremy. Thankfully, both grandsons were more biologically productive than their slacker uncles and bestowed her with three great granddaughters.
Somehow, after having four boys, we can’t help but believe that she had a hand with the next generation being all girls. What is also known is that Jeannette (or was it Florence? ) had a terrific voice and loved to sing.
It was her passion and she never refused an opportunity to serenade the congregation attending Saint Augustine church or any local musical production. Her youthful dream was to be a professional singer in New York City. Luckily, it never happened.
A small town beauty with too much talent, being too unassuming and too naive – New York would have devoured her. One of the best periods of Jeannette’s life was after her sons were on their own (no surprise there). Free of parental responsibilities, she and Louie took dancing lessons and absolutely loved it and it showed.
Both being very social and neither being shy, they were pretty impressive on the dance floors. This was also the period that Luke and Jeremy spent part of their summer vacations with their grandparents. Months of anticipation and excitement went into planning where to go and what to do.
Seriously, it was hard to tell who enjoyed the time more. With the exception of a few years, and true to being a small town girl, Jeannette lived in the same house for over seventy years. A house in which she had an out-sized attachment to.
It was her wish after Louie died that she could stay there for the remainder of her life. No promises were made that we would not try to convince her otherwise. Sound logic or tearful pleading could not get her to move into safer and less isolating housing.
She never wavered even after she fell outside in a freezing rain storm and broke her pelvis. In hindsight, maybe it was just as well that she didn’t move. Would you want to be the person responsible for her leaving a place that she loved this much?
Think of the repercussions. Jeannette was a devoted and genuine believer in her Catholic religion. She was a long time member of Saint Augustine’s choir and too readily volunteered and participated in almost any event.
When listening to her talk about church activities, you quickly realized that what meant the most to her were the personal friendships she developed through the church over the decades. Those friendships were responsible for strengthening her religious beliefs. There was just one visit with her in the nursing home that allowed us to have a conversation that we could not otherwise have.
It was an unusual day simply because we were alone. Commonly, the circle of friends that someone has at 88 is fairly small, if at all. Jeannette had a steady, daily stream of friends and family visiting her, sometimes more than once a day.
She paused for a very long moment when we mentioned this to her. Then she said how truly lucky she was and that there was no way she would ever be able to thank everyone… maybe something can be said in my obituary… By now you probably have forgotten about that one small, but very significant detail on her headstone. That detail is the dash that separates the dates between her birth and death.
It is the one and only thing that matters on that line. For Jeannette, her dash was the time that you shared with her. We want you to know that they were so precious to her and that she is eternally grateful for every moment.
Donations may be made to: David’s House 461 Mt.
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