Obituary of Alice Cote

The Life of an AMAZING and LOVING MOTHER and BABCI - ALICE COTE Alice (Władysława) was born on January 5, 1932, in Poland where she lived on a little farm with her mom and dad, her sister, and her two brothers. In 1939 the beautiful family life as she knew it came to an end. Just seven years old, her and her family were ripped out of their home by enemies in the middle of winter and placed in a horse-drawn sleigh with just the pajamas on their back and no shoes. They were thrown in the fields as slaves...Alice was sent to an orphanage all alone but never gave up her Faith in God. She would secretly pray to God by saying her Rosary so as the enemies did not see her, as they did not permit prayer because they insisted “there is no God”. Eventually she was sent to a concentration camp where day after day she would walk the camps searching for her sister, Eugenia, in every tent. After doing this every day for years, with the Grace of God, she found her and they were reunited. Nothing could ever tear them apart again. Alice was eventually brought to this country, together with Eugenia, by her cousin, Father Louis, who had lived in the states. She eventually met Henri Cote and they married and had three beautiful girls. THIS is when ALICE became MOM. Mom was the most beautiful and amazing Mother who would do anything for her girls. She worked so hard to make sure we never went without and always made sure we were well fed and happy, even rocking and singing Lorraine to sleep until she was too big to fit on her lap. That is the kind of dedication she had as a Mother. She was never able to get this love from her own mother from the age of seven on, but she just knew how and it came so graceful. Over the years, Mom was no longer just Mom, but became a Babci. She lived for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Nothing in this world made her more happy. She would always babysit them, take them to the Salem Common or take them to the Salem “Villows” (as she called it)....she would take them to CVS “not to buy anything, just to look”, but of course they always left with toys and candy. Babci LOVED playing BINGO with her family and friends at St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph’s, and St. James. Everyone who knew Babci knew she had love for everyone. People were people to her no matter their ethnicity, race, economic class...none of that mattered to her. If you were kind to her, she was kind to you, and we were blessed to have her pass this kindness on to all of us. Family was everything to Babci, coinciding with her strong Faith in God. She always prayed for our good health and happiness before her very own. She cried when we cried, and she laughed when we laughed. THAT was BABCI!! She was always willing to drop anything she was doing or planned to do to help any of us. Even when she was no longer physically able to, she still always offered. When dementia set in, and eventually turned to Alzheimer’s, she still did her best to do what she could for us until things started to fade in her mind and her aging body got weaker. She fought to the extreme to remember all of her loved ones till the very end. With the Grace of God, we were able to find her the best care when we were no longer able to medically care for her ourselves. Philips Manor Nursing Home in Lynn became our second home. Rick and all his Staff became our second family. They cared for Mom like they would care for their very own mother. We were very blessed to have found them. They will always be a part of our family. In the last few months of Mom’s life, she just wanted to be done with her life on earth and go to heaven and be with her family that she had not seen for so very long. Mom was very tired of this life, which we all understood.. She lived a beautiful long life and touched so many people. During our last visit, we told Mom that we would see her on Monday. Mom, who could not even put two words together, clearly stated “I won’t be here Monday”. Very shocked, we joked around with her asking her if she was going dancing. She just said again, “I won’t be here Monday”. God must have spoken to her to prepare us because early Monday morning we got the call that Mom had passed peacefully in her sleep. Amen. Mom/Babci will be truly missed by all of us, but we know through our Faith that she has been reunited with her family in Heaven, clear of any suffering. She is FREE now to rest for eternity. We know she will ALWAYS continue to watch over us from Heaven and be with us in spirit when we need her the most. ALICE COTE: Mother, Babci, Daughter, Sister, Cioci - ALL that makes up ALICE COTE. An AMAZINGLY STRONG and LOVING Woman with so much LOVE to have shared. WE LOVE YOU MOM/BABCI AND WILL MISS YOU BEYOND WORDS CAN SAY! Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. John Paul II Devine Mercy Shrine, 28 St. Peter St., Salem, Saturday, October 24, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. A visitation will be held at the Conway Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody, Saturday morning from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. prior to the Mass. Burial in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Salem. All attendees are required to wear a mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines. For directions and online guestbook, please visit www.ccbfuneral.com.