Share: 

Mandy Jean Lemaire Paradee, jack-of-all-trades

November 6, 2019

Mandy Jean Lemaire Paradee, 62, passed away from lung failure Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, in the comfort of her newfound home in Mesa, Ariz., with her dearest friend, Mary Kate Cleary, by her side.

Mandy, the second daughter of Albert and the late Rebecca Lemaire, attended Rehoboth High School. On New Year’s Eve in 1984, Mandy tied the knot with her soulmate Benjamin Paradee and they settled in Millsboro to raise their family.

Mandy’s joy in life came from raising her children, all six of them. She found no job more satisfying than dedicating herself to being a homemaker. As a child, she shadowed her father, and, after years, found she could fix just about anything. Some would say she was a “jack of all trades.”  

Mandy also inherited her father’s love of baseball, where she continued the tradition with coaching and umpiring through countless games and seasons with her children’s teams. Her love of cooking and of Christmas came from her mother. Wanting to encapsulate her childhood memories, Mandy brought magic into the family home every holiday season.

Knowing their mother would always be at home for them gave Mandy’s children great comfort. There were countless homework assignments edited, heads of hair cut, school projects perfected, and daughters transformed into homecoming beauties, all by the hands of one woman. She was truly there for everything. Mandy’s heart and compassion wasn’t for her family exclusively; it was open to many others who came to call her Mom. From a wild, free-spirited young woman like the horses she cared for as a teenager, Mandy blossomed into a selfless, dedicated wife and mother.

Mandy was predeceased by her mother Rebecca (Small) Lemaire; and her grandparents Frank and Esther Small, and Arny and May Lemaire. She is survived by her husband of 34 years, Benjamin A. Paradee; her father, Albert Lemaire of Florence, Mont.; sisters Melissa Jackewicz of Millsboro and Mimi Morris of Florence; children Kristen Lemaire of Long Neck, Paul Paradee of Mesa, Rebecca Meyers of Rogersville, Tenn., Melissa Lesher of West Mifflin, Pa., Michelle Paradee of Dunedin, Fla., and Jeffrey Paradee of West Mifflin; and 11 grandchildren.

Services will be private.

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter