Lucille Lagasse, who died last week, was a force to be reckoned with in several New Hampshire circles.



She was refreshingly direct, remarkably well-read, and forever optimistic.

She was not only proud of her heritage, she put her time and energy where her passion was and co-founded the American-Canadian Genealogical Society in Manchester.

She was not only sure of her political conservatism, she backed it up by working tirelessly for political candidates, from local to national. But she only worked for those in whom she saw ideological strength.

She was an iconoclast on health issues.

Believing that diet had helped cure her own serious illness, she practiced what she preached and even wrote a book on the subject in her later years.

Lucille was over 90 when she died. She had been an aircraft mechanic during World War II. Up until fairly recently, she was still working.

Her job? She took care of elderly people. What a role model. What a force. What a lady.