Joseph E. Boudreau

Waltham – Mr. Joseph E. Boudreau, of Waltham, died peacefully on Saturday, March 11, 2017 at his home, surrounded by his loving family. He was 86.

Joe was born in Chéticamp, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on May 27, 1930, to the late Alexander and Marie Ann (Aucoin) Boudreau. He moved to Waltham in 1953, where he met and seven years later married, Mary C. MacDonald, at Saint Gabriel's Monastery in Brighton. The couple made their lifelong home in Waltham.

Until his retirement Joe worked for more than twenty-five years as a materials handler and forklift operator for the General Motors Corporation in Framingham. After his retirement, he worked as a school bus driver for C&W Transportation in Lexington.

Joe was never far from his Cape Breton roots and had been a lifelong member of the French-American Victory Club in Waltham. He was a talented fiddler and an avid Boston Bruins hockey fan. He enjoyed fishing and playing cribbage, and for years he and Mary would take the kids camping on Cape Cod and in New Hampshire. Many vacations included a trip 'back home' to Canada.

In addition to his wife of fifty-six years, Mary, he leaves his children, Annmarie Boudreau of Waltham, Patricia Arciprete and her husband, Charles, of Lexington, Alexander J. "Sandy" Boudreau and his wife, Donna, of Sarasota, Florida, Daniel P. Boudreau and his wife, Pam, of Londonderry, New Hampshire and Gene Boudreau and his wife, Marianne, of Tewksbury; his grandchildren who affectionately called him "Pa": Gene, Joseph, Bailey, Erin, Cameron, Ryann, Jaxon, Callum, Logan, Joseph Robert, Morgan, Madison and Edward; his sister and brother, Isabel Roach of Chéticamp, Cape Breton and Henry Boudreau of Waltham and many nieces and nephews.

Joe was also a brother of the late Jeanette Haley, Eugene Boudreau, Wilfred Boudreau, Dennis Boudreau, Alice LaBarre and Albert Boudreau.

Family and friends will honor and remember Joe's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Friday, March 17th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Jude Church, 147 Main Street, Waltham where his Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made to the Saint Jude Shrine, 512 W. Saratoga Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.