Lucelle L. Auger

Lucy Auger, our beloved mother, Nana, and gracious friend to many, passed peacefully in her sleep just shy of her 102nd birthday. She lived a long and beautiful life marked by kindness, resilience, creativity, and a deeply generous spirit.

Lucy was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, to Julia and Peter Palmer. Over the course of her remarkable life she witnessed nearly a century of profound change, yet she carried forward the enduring values of her early years—family, hard work, community, and joy in life’s simple pleasures.She loved to share memories of growing up in Edmonton and helping her grandparents, Anton and Anna Pointkowski, on their homestead farm near Camrose, Alberta. At just nine years old, Lucy and a cousin would pack a homemade lunch and ride bareback across the fields to herd cattle to the watering hole. Those were the days of large families—her mother one of eleven children, Lucy the eldest of six—when tending crops, raising livestock, and caring for one another were part of daily life. Refrigeration was a deep cellar in the earth, water came from the well, butter was churned by hand, and cottage cheese simmered on the back of a cast-iron stove. Yet amid the work there was joy: barn dances, homemade music, and families gathering together in laughter.

During World War II Lucy met the love of her life, Francis “Fran” Auger of Windsor, Vermont, at a Servicemen’s Canteen dance in Edmonton. Family legend tells that Fran flipped a coin with a friend for the chance to dance with a blonde—and lost. Instead, he danced with Lucy. Lucky Fran indeed. They were engaged in Banff at the end of the war and soon began their life together.Lucy left her large Canadian family and traveled by train across the country to Montreal, where Fran met her and brought her to Windsor, Vermont to marry. Early in their marriage they lived in what was affectionately known as “the rabbit colony” at the University of Vermont—a trailer community for married veterans—where their first child, Catherine, was born.

In the years that followed, Lucy and Fran moved eleven times in fourteen years as Fran’s work with Mobil Oil Corporation took the growing family across the country. Eventually they settled in Greenwich, Connecticut, where they made their home for 61 years.Lucy was an artist who sold her paintings at local art shows and shared her love of art as a docent in Greenwich public schools, bringing creativity to hundreds of elementary students over the years. She was an active member of the Old Greenwich Garden Club for over 25 years, and she and Fran were longtime patrons of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra and Greenwich Choral Society.

Lucy and Fran raised five children: Catherine Vesterby (Paul Vesterby, deceased) of Queensbury, NY; David Auger, deceased (Becky Auger) of Moretown, VT; MaryEllen Solomon-Auger (Mara Solomon-Auger) of Marblehead, MA; Stephen Auger, deceased; and Susan Auger, deceased.Lucy’s love extended through generations. She is survived by seven grandchildren: Erika Kersey; Alissa Vesterby; Krista Mitchell; Sarah Auger; Isabella Auger-Larsen; Tobey Solomon-Auger and Noa Solomon-Auger.Her great-grandchildren are: Kyle, Ashley, Sophia and Josephine Peterson, Lucelle and John Francis Kersey, Nicolas and Carmen Rimauldo, Mallory and Jackson Mitchell.

At age 98, Lucy moved from her beloved Greenwich home to Queensbury, New York to be near family. There she spent her final years embraced by a warm community at The Glen Senior Living—“friends in the same time of life,” as she liked to say. With devoted children nearby, she continued to enjoy picnics, concerts, family visits, and peaceful days by Lake George at the Wiawaka Center for Women.Lucy lived a full and gracious life—rich with love, family, art, music, and friendship. Her gentle spirit and generous heart will live on in all who knew her.As Lucy often said with a smile, Who could ask for anything more?The family shares their gratitude to mom’s caregiving team and High Peaks Hospice for their loving care. Donations in Lucy’s name may be made to High Peaks Hospice, online or by check to 1247 Dix Ave, Hudson Falls, NY 12839.