Lois Mae Lafreniere
August 5, 1938 – December 7, 2022
SENECA, SC – Lois Mae (Hayward) Lafreniere, 84, recently of Clemson and a longtime
resident of East Barre, Vermont, died December 7, 2022 at Cottingham House in Seneca, SC.
Born August 5, 1938 in Northfield, Vermont, she was the eldest daughter of Ray and Lillian
(Moody) Hayward. She graduated Northfield High School in 1956 and Mildred Elly Secretarial
School in Albany, NY in 1957.
On September 19, 1959, she married Roland R. Lafreniere of East Barre. They built a home and
settled in East Barre, where they lived for the remainder of their married life.
Lois was a legal secretary and bookkeeper for the State of Vermont, lawyers in the Barre area,
and the Washington County Supervisory Union. In 1983 she and her husband founded Roland’s
Mini-Mart on Rte. 302 in East Barre. They also operated The Vermont Snowshoe Furniture
Company in East Barre for several years.
Following their retirement, Roland and Lois spent winters in Florida and summers at home in
Vermont. Roland passed away in 2008. Lois moved to Seneca, SC in 2018 to be near her
family.
Lois enjoyed tending her flower gardens, knitting, crocheting and, in recent years, spending time
with her family on the lake and hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Prior to moving to South
Carolina, she volunteered for several years with dear friends in the Barre Rotary Club picking up
trash on the streets of Barre every Thursday evening in the summer. Between 2013 and 2022 she
knit and donated over 1600 pair of children’s mittens to the Barre Salvation Army.
Lois was predeceased by her husband and best friend, Roland; a daughter, Leanne Sue; sons
Joseph Robert and Joseph Roland; her brothers Roger and David Hayward; sisters Joan Barsalou
and Judee Hayward, and her parents.
Survivors include her daughter, Lori and son-in-law, Paul Jean, of Seneca, SC; grandson,
Nicholas Jean of Belmont, NC; granddaughter, Brittany and her husband Tyler Lacy of Chicago,
IL; and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be planned for the summer of 2023 at St. Sylvester’s Cemetery in
Websterville, Vermont.
Memorial contributions may be made to Cottingham Hospice House, 390 Keowee School Rd.
Seneca, SC, 29672, or to the Central Vermont Humane Society, PO Box 687, Montpelier, VT
05601
Mountain View Funeral Home – Seneca Chapel is assisting the family of Mrs. Lafreniere.