Thomas Roland Drapeau, 72, of Portsmouth RI, passed away unexpectedly on May 9th, 2021.
Born in Springfield, MA on July 6th, 1948, he was the son of the late Roland Drapeau and Gabrielle (Dery) Drapeau.
He grew up in Springfield, MA, and settled in Southwick, MA with his wife, Cynthia (Russell) Drapeau. Tom worked at Holyoke Hospital for 38 years and finished his career as the Director of Information Systems.
Tom is survived by his wife Cynthia of 30 years, and his son, Jeffrey Drapeau of Newport, RI and his stepsons, Bryan Stevens and his wife Cecile Chekovsky, Douglas Stevens and his wife Jennifer and Scott Stevens and his wife Caroline Mailloux, all of Middletown, RI. He leaves his brothers and sisters Kenneth Drapeau, and his partner, Sheila Ward, and Robert Drapeau, Cynthia Grindle and her husband Don, and Judith Carty and her husband, Bob. He also leaves sister-in-law, Li Bryant and husband, Ed.
He is also survived by his grandchildren, Priya Swegles, Mathew, Megan, Layne and Kal Stevens. In addition, Tom leaves many nieces and nephews.
He is predeceased by his son Christopher David Drapeau, and brother Daniel Drapeau.
Love of his family and others was a guiding principle of his life. He gave countless hours and energy to many volunteer activities. Soccer was a passion of his life and he devoted decades to coaching, refereeing and mentoring. He was committed to supporting the Catholic Church and was a catechist in numerous churches. He became involved in prison ministry as well as pro-life groups and Priests for Life. His spiritual life and faith gave him much peace and hope; it was the anchor for his life. As expressed by a close friend, “the world needs more people like Tom”.
His funeral will be held on Saturday, May 15, 20212, with a Mass of Christian burial at 11:00 am in St. Theresa’s Church 265 Stafford Road, Tiverton, RI.
Burial will be private at St. Columba Cemetery, 465 Brown’s Lane in Middletown, RI.
In lieu of sending flowers, donations can be made at https//priestsforlifeorg/donate/appeal.aspx and https://littlesistersofthepoor.org/donate-to-lsp/.