Ervena M. Belcher

June 03, 1921 - November 17, 2008

Ervena (Vena) M. Belcher, 87, of Mansfield, died Monday, November 17 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after a long illness.

She was born June 3, 1921 in Pittsfield, Maine, the third of six children, to the late Richetta (Cianchette) and James Vincent Frederick. She and her husband George A. Belcher of Foxboro where married in Pittsfield, Maine on June 22, 1946 and together they had four children.

She graduated from Maine Central Institute in 1939 and was secretary of her class. She always enjoyed returning to Maine and MCI to celebrate reunions with her former classmates.

She was devoted to her family and was instrumental in the promotion and establishment of care and welfare of autistic children and adults and one of the founders of Amego, Inc. established in 1971, which provides educational, vocational, work and community-based residential services to individuals with autism and related disorders.

She was predeceased by her husband, George, in 1995; by her sister, Irene LaFleur; and her two brothers, William and Albert Frederick. She is survived by her two sons, George and his wife Kathleen of Portland, ME, and James of Mansfield; two daughters Marsha Schaeffer of Hernando, FL and Nancy Smit and her husband Hans of Boston/Antigua; grandson Ryan and his wife, Melissa and their daughter, her great-granddaughter and namesake, Ervena Rose of Gray, Maine: and grandson, Michael Belcher, of Boston; sisters Arlene Beardsley of Waterville and Phyllis Luke of Westbrook; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Funeral Information

Visiting hours will be 4-8 PM on Friday, November 21, at the Roberts Funeral Home, 30 South Street, Foxboro. A 9AM Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, November 22 at St. Mary’s Church on Carpenter Street in Foxboro. Interment will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Foxboro. To light a candle in Ervena’s memory please visit the funeral home web site at www.robertsandsonsfuneral.com.

Donations Information

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ervena’s memory to Amego Inc., 115 Plymouth Street, Mansfield, Mass. 02048.