Ellen Claire (Scarry) Doucette
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorry the death of former WHOI Volunteer Ellen Claire (Scarry) Doucette on September 6. She was 85.
Ellen was born in Needham, Mass., in 1934, the second of three daughters. She graduated from Newton High School in 1951, followed by work at John Hancock in Boston and American Thread Co., in Newton Upper Falls.
Introduced by her good friend, Ruth Martin, Ellen married James F. Doucette in 1956 and moved to Needham to start raising their four children. They were active members of the Needham Village Club. Ellen enjoyed moving around the country with her children and husband as he worked in the shipbuilding engineering field, they explored all around the areas of their West, Gulf, and East coast homes, making new friends wherever they went. During their time living in Maine, Ellen worked at L.L. Bean in the Returns Department, and she had many fun stories to share about that happy experience.
In the Spring of 1973, they moved their family to Falmouth Heights and for 15 years Ellen operated the Doucette’s Guesthouse with her older sister, Norma, and their two husbands, Jim and Bob, who were brothers. Ellen and Norma were co-mothers of the nine close children they raised between them. They were also surrogate mothers and dear friends to many people who may have initially stayed briefly at the guesthouse, but then became lifelong friends. Always enjoying a fun time surrounded by dear friends and family, Ellen was very competitive at cribbage and Rummikub. She hosted many Road Race and 4th of July fireworks parties in the tiny backyard of their smaller Walden Avenue home. She had a special fondness for 4th of July sparklers on the front deck, and she insisted that anyone there on the deck participate in that activity.
Ellen volunteered for a couple of years at the WHOI Information Office, and after her husband died in 2002, she volunteered for several more years at the Falmouth Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop, where she again made fast and lasting friendships.
She moved with her youngest daughter, Annie, to Mashpee in 2014 and enjoyed close and loving friendships with her new Mashpee neighbors while continuing to enjoy her membership at the Falmouth Elks. Ellen’s family is grateful for the generous assistance in her later years from dear friend, Kathy Lang, and her niece, Jeanne Ellen Doucette. Ellen found strength in her strong Roman Catholic faith, and she was a lifelong church goer. Ellie was also the best fan the New England Patriots have ever had.
She was predeceased by her husband, James, her sister, Norma, and her brother in law, Robert. She leaves her sister, Susan Lamont of Natick, MA; her four children and their partners: Lauren Doucette and her husband Mark Tatro of Warwick, New York; Jayne Doucette and her wife Julia Westwater of Waquoit; Mark Doucette and his wife Judy Doucette of Sandwich; and Annie Doucette of Mashpee. She also leaves her grandchildren: Erin Dougherty, Kelly Dougherty, John Doucette, Jenn Smith, and great-grandchildren Maxx Smith and Hailee Smith. She also leaves many loving nieces and nephews and a host of close friends who will miss her dearly.
Ellen will be celebrated at a Catholic Mass at St. Anthony’s Church, 167 E. Falmouth Hwy (Route 28), in East Falmouth on Saturday, September 14, 2019 at 11:00 a.m., followed by a reception for friends and family at The Elks Fraternal Center-Falmouth Lodge 2380. Interment at the National Cemetery in Bourne will be at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations will be gratefully accepted by the Falmouth Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop, 100 Ter Heun Drive, Falmouth, Mass., 02540.
Information for this obituary is from the Chapman, Cole, and Gleason website.