Warrena Richard

WORCESTER-Warrena (Rosen) Richard, 82, died in her home Sunday, September 10, 2006 surrounded by family and friends. Born on March 19, 1924 in Woodland, ME, daughter of Emil and Emelia (Sealander) Rosen, sister to Antoria and Dorothy. She graduated from Caribou High School, Caribou, Maine in 1941.

Warrena moved to Boston in 1941 to attend the Stenotype Institute. In 1942 she relocated to Worcester to marry and raise a family. She has been an active participant in the Worcester community for 63 years. She devoted much of her life in service to those suffering from alcoholism. She was the Executive Director of the Worcester County Council on Alcoholism from 1971-1975 and a long time volunteer.

Warrena worked on the staff at Mechanics Hall for several years and continued to contribute to programming as a Friend of the organization. She was a founding member of the local public radio. Although retired, she never stopped giving her time to the issues and projects that mattered to her. She volunteered at Tower Hill Botanic Garden and most recently as a Massachusetts Long Term Care Ombudsman. She was also an active member of the Worcester Health Club.

She is survived by her son, Capt. Jeffrey Luke Richard USN Ret. of Portsmouth, RI; her daughters, Judith Lyden of Hingham, MA and Jeanne Guilbault of Montpelier, VT; one sister, Antoria Houghton of Fort Fairfield, ME; nine grandchildren; six great grandchildren, and many loving nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Warrena's life will be held on September 23rd at 1:00 PM at the Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Ave. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701. Fay Brothers Funeral Home, 1 W. Boylston St., W. Boylston is directing arrangements.