Our Matriarch is gone. Mattie passed away on February 27, 2013 at Shell Point Hospice after a short illness. She was predeceased by her two husbands Gustave Fetter and William Van Gorden, great grand daughter Lauren Daisey, brothers Phillip and Claude and sisters Doris, Anita, Corrine, Dorothy, Lucy, Patricia and son-in-law Larry Solsaa.
She is survived by daughters Gail Roth (Frank) of Ft. Myers, FL, Catherine LeMay of Norwich, VT, June Solsaa of South Strafford, VT and Karen Kopec (Warren) of Old Lyme, CT. Also surviving are step-children Beth Van Gorden of Portland, ME and William Van Gorden (Connie) of Geneva, FL, grandchildren Holly Bristol, Jeff Solsaa, Eric Solsaa all of VT, Sara Kopec of San Diego, CA, Jared Kopec of Old Lyme, CT, eight great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by brother Leo J. Paradis of Alamogordo, NM and sisters Rose Emes (Bill) of Clayton, CA and Germaine Halpin (Bob) of Old Lyme, CT.
Mattie was born on May 18, 1922 in Houlton, ME to Joseph and Marguerete (LaVoie) Paradis. She met and married her first husband Gus Fetter in NYC and lived in Fair Lawn, NJ, where she was a hairdresser. In 1960 they moved to Old Lyme, CT and owned the Black Hall Marina, Fetter’s Fish Market and Fetter’s Package Store. Gus died in 1966 and she sold the businesses, married Bill Van Gorden in 1977 and split their time between Naples, ME and Bonita Springs, FL. Bill died in 1995 and Mattie moved to Naples, FL and then Ft. Myers, FL.
Mattie was an astute businesswoman all her life, an avid Red Sox fan and just one week before her death was still trading stocks on-line from her hospital bed. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her but we are sure she is playing cards or bingo in heaven. Interment will be in Old Lyme, CT at a later date at the convenience of the family.
Family and friends may sign the guest register by visiting www.dignifiedcremations.com. Affordable Cremations, A Dignified Alternative entrusted with the arrangements.