Obituary of Lawrence Allen Gaudette

Milton – Lawrence “Joe” Gaudette

Lawrence “Joe” Gaudette, 58, died peacefully on Sunday September 8, 2019 at the University of Vermont Medical Center surrounded by his loving family.

Joe was born on September 16, 1960 in Burlington, the son of Norris and Lena (Dubie) Gaudette.  Joe was a jack of all trades and loved to hunt and fish.

He is survived by his sons Lawrence Gaudette Jr. and his daughter Layla, and Colin Gaudette, both of Milton, his three children from a former marriage Emily Scott & her husband Gabrielle and their children Eleshia, and Julissa; Michael Martin and his wife Katie and their children Hunter and Dominick; and Tommy Hamblin and his children Zoey, Jordan and Lilly, by his brothers and sisters William Gaudette and fiance Brenda Geraw of Colchester, his twin sister Lucy Gaudette of Milton, his brothers Robert Gaudette and his wife Tammy of Milton, and Donald “Cricket” Gaudette and his wife Laurie of Milton and his youngest sister Louisa Gaudette of Winooski, and by several nieces and nephews and cousins.

He was predeceased by his sister Donna, and his parents Norris and Lena.

“It is with great sorrow that we said goodbye to our beloved friend Joe yesterday evening. As those of you that knew him, knew he was struggling with his breathing over the last few years, and was making frequent trips to Boston to maintain his position on the lung transplant list. It had been a hard year for him with many obstacles from being removed from the transplant list because of mold in his lungs to different infections, but he remained strong and pulled through. Regardless of his health, he still would be seen driving around, with his oxygen tank in hand helping everyone else out that he could, he did not let his conditions hold him back from doing the things he loved and felt were important. In July 2019 Joe had a CT Scan done as part of his requirements for remaining on the list and at that time there were no signs of cancer. Over the last couple months his health declined significantly, and after several visits to the emergency department with no answers, we finally received the one we were looking for that would explain his ongoing illness. On Thursday, September 5th, 2019, Joe was informed he had stage 4 metastatic cancer that spread throughout his body and was given days to weeks to live and unfortunately treatment was not an option for him at this stage of decline. The cancer was fast growing on his weak immunity and escalated quickly. On Sunday September 8th, just three days later, the hospital informed us that it had graduated to stage 5 since he was first diagnosed and that the family needed to gather and savor the remaining hours we had left. The last hours were spent with tears, laughs and his one of a kind sense of humor. Joe wasn’t leaving before kindly harassing his devoted nurses and family and leaving behind some chuckles, just for good measure. We talked about his countless fishing adventures and favorite fishing spots, we sang and listened to some of his favorite songs. He was loved by many, the nurses reminded us to limit the amount of people in the room to 5, but I’m not sure that the amount of people in his room was below 12 at any point in time that day. The room was packed full of people with love for Joe. Everyone who he wanted to see, made it. We are so very thankful for everyone that helped make his last moments as memorable and beautiful as they could have possibly been. Joe and his family and friends were also at a loss for words on the amount of support we received from the UVM Medical Center Staff, Joe was very grateful for them. He loved his family, there was no question about it, he had some wonderful and loving friends, and will be reunited with his mother Lena and father Norris, sister Donna, and niece Heidi in their forever home and when he isn’t watching over all of us as promised he will be fishing the lakes of heaven and keeping the coffee brewing for us, Rest Easy Joe, we love you always”

Joe's family would like to thank the staff at the University of Vemront Medical Center for the excellent care given to Joe and compassion to his family, especially Milton and his staff.

A Grave Side service will be held on Saturday September 14, 2019 at 1pm at St. Ann’s Cemetery in Milton.