Ramona H. Stearns

Ramona (Mona) LaDeau Stearns, 87, passed away surrounded by her loved ones on April 12, 2024. She was born on November 10,1936, in Fairlee, VT to the late Kenneth LaDeau and Arlene Trussell LaDeau.
Mona married Eli (Sonny) Stearns at an early age and lived in Orford, NH with their 3 children until they later divorced, but remained friends. She then met her life partner, Wayne Southworth and spent her remaining years with him in West Fairlee, VT up until she moved into the Margaret Pratt facility in Bradford. They were together for over 50 years.
She is survived by her longtime life partner, Wayne Southworth; two sisters, Shirley Gendron of Orford and Pauline Stearns of Lyme; her children and their spouses, Christine & Paul Kingsbury of Bradford, Rita & Edward Kent of Portsmouth, RI, Wayne & Darcy Stearns of Bradford and Jason & Becky Southworth; her grandchildren, Jen Trojanowski & Doug Petterson of Bradford, Matthew Kent and Chandra Kent of Portsmouth, RI, Kristina Kingsbury of St. Albans; her great grandchildren, Kayleigh Trojanowski of Bradford, Lewis Coutre and Lola Coutre of Portsmouth, RI, Jarrett Petterson of East Haven and Scott Petterson of Williston, VT; her childhood lifelong friend, Joyce Churchill of Bradford; many nieces, nephews and friends.
Mona was self-employed and successful in her businesses of house cleaning and home-based party sales. She absolutely loved her party sales and was very good at it. She won awards and earned trips for top sales. She sold many different things over the years; clothing, nutritional supplies, jewelry and even lingerie (yes lingerie). So many know her best from her going into their homes and making them laugh and having a couple hours of fun enticing them with whatever products she was selling.
Mona loved many things: She loved Bingo and would go as many nights of the week as she could. If she won one night, you knew she would be going back an extra time that week. She loved her flower gardens and even when she started to not see well you would find her out there weeding her gardens as best as she could. She always admired them and worked very hard to keep them so pretty. She loved the birds, which she fed outside of the window she would sit at, at the kitchen table. She would watch them and listen to them sing and count how many of this or that she had that day. She also sat in that same spot for years as she talked on the phone to her kids, grandkids, and friends. She was always talking to somebody, she would talk and talk, she always had lots to say. She loved to watch her son race cars at Bear Ridge and Canaan Speedway (even though she was also terrified for his safety each time he flew around the track) and she went to every race that she was able to get to. She loved Halloween. She loved to dress up and go to people’s homes to scare them or trick them because people couldn’t recognize who she was. She always thought that was so much fun! She loved to do laundry. She would search to find things in her house to wash (what a strange hobby)! She loved going out to eat. She would go somewhere for a few hours and want to stop for both breakfast and lunch. As often as someone would go with her, she wanted to go. She loved her Benji dog, who was her faithful companion and friend for so many years. She loved all animals.
Mona had the biggest heart. She always knew what to say to cheer you up or calm you down. She always seemed to know what to do in most situations and she would guide you in the right direction. Mona loved hard; she loved her family, she loved her friends, she loved her pets. She worried about them all every single day as they were the most important things in her life.
There will be a graveside service at the Sawyer Cemetery in Bradford, VT on Saturday, June 1,2024, at 11:00 am.
In honor of Mona, please plant flowers in your gardens to spread the brightness and joy that she always saw in her own flower gardens, donate to your local animal shelters and love all animals.
Arrangements are in the care of Hale Funeral Home, 187 Upper Plain in Bradford.
Those wishing to express online condolences may do so at: www.halefuneralhomes.com