Hancock, NH – Elaine (Martin) Paquette passed away in Exeter Hospital on January 27, 2026 at the age of 88. Born on July 29, 1937 in East Orange, New Jersey, Elaine moved to Peterborough, NH as a teenager and attended Peterborough High School. She met Ronald E. Paquette, Sr., whom she married on August 10, 1957. They had two children together, Ronald Paquette, Jr., and Lenore (Paquette) Smith.
Elaine had many interests: she loved to read, loved nature and camping, and she loved her animals, always having multiple pets and farm animals. She traveled as much as she could, from Acadia National Park to the Adirondacks, down through Pennsylvania and into Virginia to visit her son in the Army. She loved the ocean and finally made it to Hawaii. She liked nothing more than entertaining family and friends, cooking up a storm and playing card games.
Elaine was a very creative woman who loved to knit and crochet. She sold Tri-Chem art paints and started Hancock’s Girl Scout Troop. She was a personal chef, a chef with Powder Mill Pond restaurant in Bennington, and had her own cake and candy business called “Elaine’s Creations.” She also spent many years as Tax Collector for Hancock, from which she retired in March, 2009.
Elaine’s passing is felt deeply by her son, Ronald Paquette Jr. and daughter-in-law, Linda; by her daughter Lenore (Paquette) Smith and son-in-law Michael Smith; grandchildren Georgette Paquette, and Jeremiah Paquette and wife, Linda; great-grandchildren Eliza and Eva Paquette, and Acadia and Boden Smith. She leaves behind an especially close cousin, Elsie Parkhouse in FL, in addition to many cousins, in-laws, nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life will be planned for spring. For those wishing to commemorate Elaine, her family would like donations made to the tax-deductible organization, MGH Dementia Care Collaborative, Yawkey Suite 2C, 32 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114.
Click here to sign the guest book or honor their memory with flowers, donations, or other heartfelt tributes