Lucille B. Oakes

Lucille Oakes, of St.Johnsbury (recently Morrisons Health and Rehab Whitefield, NH) passed away on Friday, August 2, 2024, at the age of 96. Her family was her pride and joy, and she cherished the time spent with them, recently celebrating her 96th birthday with 22 family members including all her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. 

Lucille was born July 17, 1928, in Lyndon, Vermont and was the daughter of Glen H Jones and Sylvia (Turner) Jones. Lucille was known for her resilience, inner grit, and determination, facing life’s challenges including osteoporosis, macular degeneration, and many bone fractures, with a steadfast spirit. 

Lucille’s home was always open for gatherings and celebrations, creating memorable feasts that made everyone feel like family. She was an active member of several community groups, including Grace Methodist Church Women’s group, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and PALS, often encouraging others to join and participate. She also was an avid gardener and loved her flower gardens. She studied the genealogy of most of her family trees and she enjoyed helping others begin their own genealogy research. She made candles to sell at the Grace Church Christmas sales. In her earlier years, she would sew many items including clothing for her daughters. She also would knit items including mittens for the church sale until it became too much of a challenge for her to see what she was knitting. 

Lucille had a rich educational background, attending Danville Center School, New Danville School, St Johnsbury Academy (Class of 46) and spent one year at Burdett Business College in Boston. She worked at Woolworth, Fairbanks and Indian Head Resort before becoming a bookkeeper/accountant for private companies and Jerry’s Datsun Automotive. She retired from bookkeeping and started Oakes Furniture Barn with her second husband Gordan Oakes. They ran the business for many years supplying many people with a place to buy or sell used furniture. They retired from this adventure and began attending many local Arts and Crafts shows with Gordon’s honey products and Lucille’s beeswax candles. They continued that until Gordan passed in 2010.

Lucille was predeceased in death by her second husband, Gordon Oakes; first husband, Herman Hoyt; parents, Glen and Sylvia (Turner) Jones; and her brothers, Leonard Jones (Jo) and Daniel (Buster) Jones (Mary). 

Lucille is survived by her children, Cheryl Hackett and Cynthia Stanton (Peter); grandsons, Michael Stanton (Megan), Nicholas Stanton, Kevin Stanton (Rachel) Dana Hackett (Devin), Jeff Hackett (Fiancee Courtney) great grandchildren, Clyde, Brianna, Miles, Maverick, Dominick, Nicolo, Norah, and Layla Lucille (named after Lucille), 

A graveside service will be held at St Johnsbury Center Cemetery at 2:00 pm on Saturday August 10th. There will be no visiting hours. The family will gather after the service at Monroe Consolidated School to share time together reminiscing about Lucille. Please feel free to join us. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the DAR Local Chapter ℅ Nola Forbes/Terry Wallace, PO Box 311 West Burke, Vermont 05871 or St. Johnsbury Academy ℅ Tami Cady. 1000 Main Street St Johnsbury, Vermont 05819