Eloise Lizotte

Lizotte, Eloise E. (Emin) 97, of Smithfield, passed away June 14, 2017 at Miriam Hospital with family members by her side. Born in Smithfield, she was the daughter of the late John and Ruth (Crossman) Emin. She grew up on her family’s farm known as the Emin farm on the site where the Bryant College campus is today. That is where she met her first husband, Hormisdas (Meddy) Payette who was a pilot. It was the mid 1930’s and flying was in its infancy. As luck would have it her brother John was interested in flying and as such built an airport consisting of a grass field and a Quonset Hut for a hangar right there on the farm. This attracted pilots to land there and one of those happened to be “Meddy”. Eloise was immediately attracted to the flyer and it wasn’t long before they were married. He began giving her flying lessons and she became one of the first woman pilots in the state. Their marriage, however, wasn’t destined for longevity since Meddy died relatively young. Upon his passing she then met her second husband, Adrian Lizotte. They were married in 1953 and resided in his family’s homestead right in Centredale. They had 47 wonderful years together until his passing in 2000.

From the time of Meddy’s passing until her marriage in 1953 she lived with her mom and son Meddy in Smithfield and worked as a winder in the Lister Worsted Mill in Stillwater. Later she worked part time for the Observer newspaper when it was located right there in Centredale. In later life she became a lot less daring and her “sport” of choice became the much more sedate game of -BINGO. She would sometimes go 3 or 4 times a week. She loved her bingo.

Eloise is survived by a son, Meddy Payette, Sr. and his wife Lucille of Woonsocket, two grandchildren, Meddy Payette, Jr. of Cranston and Michael Payette of Portsmouth, VA, and a great grandson, Michael Robert Payette of Virginia Beach, VA. She was the sister of the late John, Henry and Charles Emin, Ruth Kenny and Lucille Prout.

Eloise’s visitation will be held Tuesday, June 20th from 9:15 to 10:15AM in the Robbins Funeral Home, 2251 Mineral Spring Ave. North Providence, with a service at 11AM in the Ocean State Baptist Church, 600 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI. Burial will follow in St. Ann Cemetery, Cranston. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hebert Nursing Home, Activities Fund, 180 Log Rd., Smithfield, RI 02917.