Rose Blanche Gagne passed away peacefully in her sleep on November 3, 2020. Just two days shy of her 98th birthday.

She was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on November 5, 1922 to Octave and Marie-Jeanne (Brochu) Chevalier. On May 4, 1946 she married the love of her life Edgar L. Gagne, together they raised their family of 2 daughters (Jeanne Lagesse of Hampton, VA and JoAnn Ringwood of Quinlan, TX) and ran and owned Chevalier's Hardware Store in Pawtucket. Rose was always an active member in her church community and also served several years as District Chairman for the Girl Scouts in her area. She loved to entertain- every holiday received special treatment with decorations and celebrations. In 1972 they sold the hardware store and moved to Attleboro, Massachusetts, where she worked part time as a sales clerk at London's Department Store. She enjoyed day trips and picnics and spending time with her husband and friends bowling and playing par-three golf. In 1985 they fled the cold New England climate for sunny Myrtle Beach, SC. And of course their first winter had a record snow storm. Rose and Edgar were active members of St. Andrews parish where they participated in many church activities and clubs. They competed in Senior Olympics (bowling) and were volunteers for several years at the Dupont Golf Tournament. Rose also found time to be a Hospice and Hospital volunteer at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center accumulating close to 3000 volunteer hours. Their two grandchildren (Amanda Harris of Raleigh, NC and Jason Lagesse of Greensboro, NC) loved to visit in the summer where they would spend hours at the beach. Rose and Edgar continued to host parties and travel to visit friends and each winter they would spend 2 weeks in Florida with their favorite stop being Disney World. After Edgar passed Rose moved to Hampton, Virginia in 2007 to live with her daughter Jeanne and son-in-law Roger. She became a member of St. Joseph's Parish in Buckroe and immediately began looking for things to do. She was active in parish activities, attended daily mass and became a member of the "bed-making" group at Holy Family Retreat House which she very much enjoyed. She was a volunteer at the information desk at Sentara Hospital in Hampton. She re-kindled a love of painting, and Roger set her up with her own "studio" in the garage where she would have friends over weekly to paint. She enjoyed all her friends and it seemed that she never met a stranger. In 2016 Rose moved to Mennowood Retirement Community in Newport News, VA where she enjoyed bus trips, broom hockey, painting, crafts and other activities until age finally caught up with her.

Rose is pre-deceased by her parents, her husband Edgar, and her sister Jeanne Angers and niece Michele Angers. She is survived by her daughters JoAnn and Jeanne, son-in-law Roger Lagesse, grand children Amanda Harris and Jason Lagesse, and 5 great-grandsons, Michael, Jacob, Matthew and Jonathan (Harris) and Daniel (Lagesse) and nephew Paul Angers.

A Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, November 11, 2020, at 2:30 p.m., in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Hampton. Masks and social distancing are required. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Mennowood Foundation in Rose's name.