Chris Beaulieu

Posted

Chris Beaulieu, a resident of Pawtuxet Village, died Friday March 25, 2022 at a local hospice.  Born in 1954 in Canada, she spent her childhood years in Maine.  She was a 1972 graduate of Marie Joseph Academy and a 1974 graduate of St. Francis College (now the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine), both in Biddeford Pool, Maine.
Following graduation, she entered the US Army Officer Candidate School in Ft. Benning, GA and earned her commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps in 1977. After assignments in Pennsylvania, she was posted to Kaiserslautern, Germany, rising to the rank of Captain before her retirement in 1983 due to illness.
Moving to Washington, D.C., Chris worked in commercial real estate for several years before moving to live with her brother in Northampton, MA and later in Warwick’s side of Pawtuxet Village. She was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Cranston and an advocate for Women Veteran Care at the Providence VA Medical Center. 
An avid writer, Chris sent out notes, cards and letters on a daily basis to family and friends all over the country. She also wrote a great deal of poetry, full of reflections on life’s journey and her own struggles with illness.  During the holiday season, she wrote many Mrs. Santa Claus letters for children, writing with red and green pens, making sure to decorate each envelop with holiday stamps of all kinds.  She may singularly have kept the post office on Matinicus Island, ME in business where she regularly ordered a monthly supply of stamps for over 25 years.  She chose Matinicus because it was the farthest Maine island off the coast with a post office.
Chris was well known in the Village, considered by many to be its ‘unelected mayor’.  Her daily walks through the Village included many stops at various shops and cafes where she would meet up with friends and often sneak in her favorites of a grilled cheese sandwich or pepperoni pizza and a whoopie pie. Chris was known and loved for her generous nature, sympathetic ear, poetic spirit and whose embrace of anyone included the words, ‘Heart to Heart’.
Following a local gathering for invited family and friends in mid-May to celebrate her life, Chris will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, with full military honors. Online condolences may be shared at www.THEBUTTERFIELDHOME.com