March 8, 1940 – December 29, 2021
Our Dad lived life BIG.
Paul was born on March 8, 1940 in Winooski VT, to the late Eutrope & Marie Niquette.
He was the baby of his family of 9 children and is survived by his sister Peggy Sweeney, and brothers Armand, Raymond and Robert Niquette. Pre-deceased by his sisters Grace Viens, Alice Rooney and Shirley Watson and brother Leo Niquette.
Paul grew up in the tight knit Winooski community speaking French and enjoyed hunting and fishing from an early age. He graduated from Winooski High School where he played football, basketball & baseball - sports that he continued to enjoy watching and following throughout his life, especially the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Chicago Bulls and more recently the Golden State Warriors.
Paul was always looking for a new opportunity and was unafraid to try something new, a characteristic he encouraged in his children and grandchildren. From building Lake Champlain Islands Campground & Marina with his nephew Roland in the early 1970’s, to founding and operating 'Century Realty', to owning and operating an arcade game business with his brother Bobby, Paul explored different enterprises. Eventually his love of fishing led him to become a U.S. Coast Guard Charter fish captain, taking clients fishing on Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario. Spending time on the water sailing, jet skiing and in his boat “Fish Hook", trolling for walleye, salmon and lake trout, provided endless joy.
Growing up we remember our Dad helping others, always trying to make the world a better place. He was active in Kiwanis and the Elks Club.
Paul’s proudest accomplishment by far was raising his four children - Eve Niquette [Charles Pohl] of San Francisco, CA; Kimberly Niquette [Winston Krone] of Dorset, England; Paula Nenninger [Todd Nenninger] of South Burlington, VT and Douglas Niquette [Melissa Niquette] of Plattsburgh, NY. Family was the most important thing to Paul. He came to all of our sporting events and competitions, even cross-country skiing around in the winter to film us racing up the mountains. He organized team pizza parties to view the films.
He became a bus driver to drive our school bus to races and found financial support to buy our small sports teams a van.
His sense of adventure was infectious and growing up we ventured up Lake Champlain in Fish Hook through the locks to Quebec. Many winters we explored the Green Mountains around Hancock on snow mobile and cross country skis and several times we drove up to Montreal to watch the Expos, visit La Ronde or Parc Safari, go white water rafting, eat Chinese food, or see a Cirque du Soleil show. Throughout our lives we’ve been encouraged to find new adventures and try new things.
Growing older and having our own kids didn’t change anything. Paul’s grandchildren lovingly called him Pepere – a homage to his French-Canadian roots. Pepere built an epic water slide at his Georgia Shore home from the road to the lake. Taught every grandkid how to fish and showed us love with too many yummy feasts and treats to recall. His grandchildren Geneva, Charlotte & Sophira Pohl; Ali & Jasper Niquette, Sumner & Rowan Nenninger; and Morgan Champion, Dugan, Fenway & Lawson Niquette grew up learning to make marble boards to play aggravation knowing there was no mercy while playing the game. We all learned to be tough, persist, do our best and take care of each other.
Paul married Barbara Cox on June 24, 2000.
Privileged to live his whole life in Vermont, Dad traveled with Barb by RV throughout the United States and Mexico. One winter they traveled cross-country by train to visit California, stopping in Salt Lake City to do genealogy research; a decades long project he enthusiastically pursued. On other trips, they traveled around France tracing his genealogy, explored Europe and ventured to China.
Visiting hours will be held at LaVigne Funeral Home in Winooski on Wednesday, January 5 from 4-7 p.m. EST. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
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