Thelma J. (Paige) Colson

On Wednesday morning, June 25, 2025, Thelma Janice (Paige) Colson went home to be with the Lord. She was 86. Born July 10, 1938, in Essex Junction, Vermont, Thelma was the third child of Delbert Homer Paige and Aleta (Lucia) Paige. She grew up and graduated from high school in Milford, Connecticut, where her youthful memories involved playing in and around the salt marshes around New Haven Avenue, working at a local soda fountain and learning how to become a spectacular cook. Following her marriage to David Colson, she eventually moved to Groveland, Massachusetts, where they raised two daughters and ran a small farm that included horses, pigs, chickens, turkeys, dogs, cats, and two big family gardens. Thelma had a good eye for designing a beautiful and inviting room and making a home look like something out of a magazine. She loved to can, cook, and prepare memorable meals, and had a natural talent for putting food together and making it not only spectacular, but special. For some years, she had a chair caning and rushing business, and as with everything she did, took much pride in her work; many of the antique chairs whose seats she restored ended up in museums and the homes of private collectors. She was passionate and deeply knowledgeable about early American furniture and antiques, from old teddy bears to flow blue china and had a shop at Sedler’s Antique Village in Georgetown, Massachusetts, for some years.

Thelma was a passionate person, strong-minded, feisty, wise, witty, funny and fiercely independent. A natural extrovert, she worked as a waitress for some time at the Track And Trolley restaurant in Groveland, Massachusetts, and then for many years at the West Newbury Food Mart in West Newbury, Massachusetts, where she was a popular figure at the cash register. She loved her family, animals and birds, her beloved dogs, her chickens, her antique home, estate jewelry, her purple Dodge Neon car, and Andy Griffith.

Her thumb was green, and she could bring almost any plant back from the dead and make it thrive. She knew how to make people laugh, and resisted asking for help with anything. She had a gentle heart and a farmer’s soul and will be dearly missed.

Thelma was predeceased by her parents and stepmother Lillian (Beckwith) Paige, her brothers, Robert Paige, John McCurdy, and Delbert Paige Jr., and her sister, Madeline Dauplaise as well as her beloved rat terriers Lily and Maggie, her Manchester terrier Dancer, her big mixed breed Sammy, and numerous other animals, all of which she loved, dearly.

She is survived by her daughters, Danelle F. (Colson) Gatcombe and her husband Christopher Gatcombe of Groveland, Massachusetts and Jody L. (Colson) Saulnier and her husband Jeff Saulnier of White Pine, Tennessee, as well as her only grandchild, Emma J. Gatcombe of Epping, New Hampshire and her partner, Devin McCuish. She also leaves behind her sisters, Debra Paige Clark, Sally Cotton, Cheryl Alfano, and her brother, Gary Paige, all of Connecticut and Rhode Island, several great-nieces and nephews, and her sweet little dog, Henry, who only got eight weeks with her before her sudden and unexpected passing.

Thelma wanted to be buried with her four beloved dogs, and they will all be laid to rest together in the Riverview Cemetery in Groveland, Massachusetts. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, her family asks for donations to be made in her memory to the Audubon Society, Safe Tails Animal Rescue in Merrimac, Massachusetts, the Doberman Pinscher Club of America Rescue, or the animal rescue of your choice.

For those wishing to share memories of Thelma with her family, please visit www.cgfuneralhomegeorgetown.com

The Conte - Giamberardino Funeral Home, 14 Pleasant Street, Georgetown has been entrusted with Thelma's care.

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