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Armand Begnoche
December 18, 1923 ~ February 28, 2008
PASSING OF A SHIPMATE
ST. ALBANS, VT - Armand “Leo“ Begnoche,
84, passed away in the Franklin County Rehab Center on Thursday,
Feb. 28, 2008. He was born in Swanton on Dec. 18, 1923, the son of
the late Treffle and Columbe (Daigneault) Begnoche. Leo attended
St. Ann's Academy in Swanton. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on Dec.
5, 1943, and took his basic training at Davisville, R.I., where he
was assigned to the U.S. Navy Construction Battalion. At
Williamsburg, Va., he enrolled in Deep Sea diving School and
achieved the rank of Diving Instructor. Detached to the 3050th, he
was sent to Quoddy Village, Maine, and assigned to sea patrol duty
especially when President Roosevelt visited his summer home. The
3050 Division was sent to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Leo saw
duty in the Philippines with the Naval 7th Fleet in Samara,
Maniciani, Okinawa, Leteye Bay, Tsingtao and Peiping, China. He
received his honorable discharge on March 27, 1946. Leo remained
on the active reserve list and was recalled to duty during the
Korean Conflict on Aug. 21, 1950, and was assigned to the USS
Monetary and later to the USS Midway. He was separated from
service on Nov. 30, 1951, at Boston, Mass. Upon Leo's discharge
from the Navy, he was employed at the H.P. Hood milk plant in St.
Albans, until he left to commence his own business of landscaping
and installing swimming pools. Leo installed many of the area's
first in-ground swimming pools. He was an ardent snowmobile and
four- wheeler enthusiast and made many such excursions throughout
Vermont, Quebec, Maine and Michigan. He was a member St. Paul's
United Methodist Church and Green Mountain Post 1, American
Legion. On July 29, 1950, Leo married Elaine Lace, who survives
him. He is also survived by his son, Stephen and his fiancee,
Debbie Charbonneau, his daughter, Susan and her fiance, Andre
Jette; two grandchildren, Nathan and Natalie Reed; one
greatgranddaughter, McKenzie Reed; his sisters and brothers-inlaws,
Yvette Ouimet, Roland and Clayton Therrien, Juliette and Andrew
Guy Ouimet and Lorraine and Ezra Mulheron; a brother, Real
Begnoche and his wife, Solange; four sisters-in-law, Marie,
Elaine, Jeanne and Patricia; and several aunts, uncles, cousins,
nieces and nephews. He will be missed by his faithful companion,
Nuisance. Leo was preceded in death by his parents, Treffle and
Columbe Begnoche, his infant son, Michael Charles, and his four
brothers, Arthur, Romeo, Ronald and Bernard Begnoche. A funeral
service will be held on Monday, March 3, at 2 p.m. in St. Paul
United Methodist Church on Church Street. Interment will follow at
the family lot in Riverside Cemetery with full military honors.
Leo's family will receive friends on Sunday from 1-4 p.m. in the
Heald Funeral Home, 87 S. Main St. Those planning an expression of
sympathy are asked to consider the Franklin County Home Health
Agency, 3 Home Health Circle, St. Albans, VT 05478. Messages of
condolence to the Begnoche family are welcome at
www.healdfuneralhome.com. |
