Paula (Delicata) Bourgeois
Of Waltham, passed away peacefully Tuesday evening October 20, 2020. She was
surrounded by her loving family at home after a brief but courageous battle with
pancreatic cancer.

Paula was born on October 15, 1948 and was the oldest daughter of Violet and
Mario Delicata. She was predeceased by her devoted sister Donna and is survived
by her supportive younger sisters Janet, Linda, Joann, and Carolyn as well as a
close-knit extended family. Paula grew up in Newton and graduated from Newton
South High School in 1966. She decided to put her creative talents to use and
became a hairdresser. Friends and neighbors could find their way to her chair and
her many stories at Mr. Peters Hair Salon on Moody Street. One day Paula noticed
Ivan Bourgeois, a quiet young Canadian who had just moved to Massachusetts. She
timed it perfectly one afternoon and took out the trash from the salon just as Ivan
walked by. Their first conversation started that day and soon they fell in love. They
married July 13, 1969 and moved to Waltham to start their new life together.
Over the next few years, Ivan and Paula welcomed their daughters Michelle and
Renee. Paula continued to work while raising her two daughters and the girls
remember hanging out in the salon and then saving seats at the Bingo games for
their mother and her friends. The family of four spent many happy years bringing
their French-Canadian and Italian families and traditions together for food, music
and laughter. They worked hard and created a home and always found time to
spend together. There were trips to Hampton Beach every summer with stops at
Brown’s Seafood on the way home as well as long car rides across the border to New
Brunswick where the girls played with their many cousins at their grandparents
farm by the ocean.

Paula also worked as a cafeteria worker at Newton North High School while the
Bourgeois family continued to grow. Paula was able to celebrate many graduations,
weddings and christenings for her daughters and their families. She welcomed
Donny and Brian as sons-in-law but it was the role of Nana that was her favorite.
Maggie and Madison LeBlanc and Jonathan and Natalie Campana were everything to
her. She spent countless hours with them as they grew from babies to young adults.
Her love for them was endless as was her wish to tell everyone she knew about
them.

In recent years, Paula was able to spend more time with Ivan traveling to see the
waters of the Caribbean and the coast of Alaska. They were able to travel far but also
loved taking the grandkids for sleepovers and for day trips to Ogunquit. Her daily
joys were many like playing cards with her grandkids, sitting in the sun, choosing a
new tattoo, or playing keno at the neighborhood convenience store. Her outgoing
personality and contagious laugh drew people to her wherever she went. In Paula’s
world, new people were friends to be made and friends were made for life.

Her family is grateful for the overwhelming support shown to Paula since her
diagnosis particularly from the staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer
Center at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. It provided her with comfort as she faced this
challenge. Even ill, she was never short on advice or opinions and her family,
friends and neighbors will miss both. Paula had found her place in the world with
Ivan and her whole family and left a legacy of hard work, never ending compassion,
and limitless love.

Private Services will be held Thursday, October 29th , in The Mary Catherine Chapel of Brasco & Sons Memorial Chapels.