Obituary of Loretta 'Lorrie' Bouchard

November 2, 1946 – May 3, 2019

Loretta “Lorrie” Bouchard.  Age 72 of Taylor.

Beloved wife of Frank “Tom” Bouchard.  Dearest mother of Timothy Bouchard, Kenneth (Kristy) Bouchard, Michelle Bouchard, Raymond (Heather) Bouchard and the late Karen Bouchard.  Cherished grandmother of Samantha Bouchard and Matthieu Bouchard.  Dear sister of Margaret “Peggy” (Robert) Fisher and John Schwendeman. 

Family Tribute

Loretta grew up in Wyandotte and graduated from St. Pat's in 1964. In 1967 she married Frank (Tom) and raised four children Timothy (Tim), Kenneth (Ken), Michelle, and Raymond (Ray). Loretta was an extremely hands on mother.  She served as a PTA Board member at Racho Elementary and was still in close contact with Karen (the school secretary), Bev and Jenny (other PTA members). Loretta was happy as a stay at home mother until her lifelong best friend, Carol Sue Martin, asked her to come work with her in Southfield for Drs. Herbert and Lewis Rosenbaum (and eventually Dr. James).  She LOVED her job.  She worked for more than 15 years and developed strong relationships with doctors and patients.  And they LOVED her.  She received extraordinary gifts from the patients, some of which she would only see once a year.

She was a top notch chef.  Her meals were favorites among extended family and friends.  She was exceptional at putting together a feast fit for royalty.  Christmas 2018 she was really weak.  That did not stop her from sitting at the kitchen table and ordering me around to make sure everything was done and done right. She took a cake decorating class and had the reputation of being the 'go to" for cakes. Loretta was funny.  She had a biting wit and timing like no other.  She was making nurses crack up right until the end. 

She was a devoted grandmother.  Samantha Lynne and Matthieu Henry were her world.  Nothing made her happier than being with them, reading to them, bathing them, etc.  She "babysat" everyday until they were school age.  Then she picked them up after school.  Loretta was devoted to her family and would rally the family for big dinners regularly. She was the caregiver.  When older relatives began the decline, she rolled up her sleeves, made sure they made it to Doctor appointments, she helped organize finances, etc.

Loretta recently adopted and regularly repeated the phrase "It is what it is.” Casinos and scratch offs were her true passions along with Facebook.  She stalked EVERYBODY on Facebook. Every night at 7pm her and my dad would get in the car, drive down Eureka to Biddle, drive past Thons, and Nixons , turn down Oak, and hit Czopek to see who was "on the menu".  When they were too sick to go for a ride, she would check their pages on the World Wide Web.  She always had Mentos. She was a two-time cancer survivor (prior to April 2019). She loved Euchre. She was a devoted Young and the Restless watcher. Food was very important to her.  She would let me make doctor appointments for anything, because it always included lunch.