Theresa Blanche (Paradis) Searles

Theresa Blanche Searles (née Paradis) passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at The Grande in South Portland surrounded by the love and sounds of her children and grandchildren.  We say farewell to our beloved mother and mémère, a woman who blessed all of those around her with unconditional love and affection for the 98 years of life that she graced our world with.

She was a long-time resident of Wells, Maine, and spent the early years of her married life in Orange, Connecticut, where she raised her young family together with her loving husband, Claude Phillip Searles, Sr.

Theresa was born into the French-Canadian community of Biddeford on August 16th, 1926 to her parents Edmund Paradis and Alice Allard.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her four siblings Edmund, Arthur, Rose, and Amelia, her beloved husband of sixty-seven years, Claude, her son Michael Arthur Searles, her son Edmund Arthur Searles, and young grandchildren Nicolas Searles and James Mirabito.  

She is survived by her children Daniel Walter Searles and wife Ellen of West Haven, Connecticut, Claude Phillip Searles, Jr. and wife Maureen of Wells, and Jo-Ann Diane Searles Michaels of Wells.  Theresa’s loving family has grown to throughout generations as her five children have grown to include 19 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, and now 10 great great grandchildren and counting. 

Many remember Theresa as a selfless caregiver who helped support her large family as a nurses’s aid for those with chronic illness until she reached the age of 80 herself. Her family remembers her as a woman for whom family meant everything.  She overcame challenge and tragedy throughout her long life and kept a delightful sense of humor, a twinkle in her eye, and her trademark giggle long into her years.  She was the matriarch whose ideas of true wealth centered not on material goods or riches but instead on cultivating her big loving family.  

Her life began at the beginning of the Great Depression where her parents were lost to her at a young age and she supported herself and her siblings with long hours at the local mills.  It was in Biddeford where she would meet, Claude, at the onset of World War II.  She patiently waited for her marriage to Claude until his return from deployment in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of the war, and she suffered the loss of her brother Edmund who sadly did not return.  She approached family tragedy and sadness – the losses of her brother, two beloved sons, and two great grandchildren in their infancy – through the love of her family and her incredible resolve. 

Her grandchildren remember a grandmother who taught them the joy of hiding and sneaking all manner of unhealthy snacks, preferably when parents or her own children weren’t looking.  Besides snacking, Theresa enjoyed cooking for her family, especially blueberry pies and her famous biscuits. She also loved spending time with her close friends and family including Mona Fleming and Vivian Parker, and traveling with her family to numerous family reunions and on excursions to Old Orchard Beach and throughout Maine when her family visited. 

A memorial and celebration of life will be held for family and friends  October 21, at 10am at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Wells, ME followed by a gathering at  "Trailblazers Family Club",  102  Bills Lane, Wells, ME. 

Condolences and arrangements are entrusted to the Johnson Funeral Home, 26 Market Street, North Berwick, ME. Condolences may be expressed at www.JohnsonFuneralHomeME.com

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