Lorraine LaBranche, Founder of Haverhill Independent Newspaper and Loral Press Dies at 93

(File photograph.)

Lorraine Theresa (Cote) LaBranche.

Lorraine Theresa (Cote) LaBranche, 93, of Haverhill, one of the founders of the former Haverhill Independent newspaper and co-founder of Loral Press of Atkinson, N.H., died peacefully Sunday at Benchmark Senior Living at Haverhill Crossings.

She was the chief financial officer and partner at Castle Publications, which launched and operated the Haverhill Independent in 1974 and several other regional newspapers. In 1978, she started Loral Press with her son Alan, who told WHAV the name is a combination of Lorraine and Alan.

“We wanted to find a name that was simple and we didn’t have to explain and spell out over the years,” Alan told WHAV. However, he said, to this day he overlooks others’ misspelling and mispronunciation of the company name.

An accomplished cook, she was also an avid gardener and enjoyed her flower gardens at her home in Haverhill and her summer home in York Beach, Maine. She was a former member and president of the Haverhill Garden Club, as well as a longtime member of the Arts and Craft Association.

She was the daughter of George J. Cote Sr., and Laura M. (Chabot) Cote. She was a longtime resident of Riverside. A graduate of Haverhill High School, she later attended McIntosh Business College.

Predeceased in 2014 by her husband of 67 years, Francis H. LaBranche Sr., she will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her twin brother, Laurence Cote of Plaistow, N.H.; children, Francis H. LaBranche Jr., DDS, of Palm Springs, Calif., Stephen LaBranche of Hampton Beach, N.H., and Sarasota, Fla., Alan LaBranche, and his wife Deborah, of Amesbur and York, Maine, and Susan (LaBranche) Adam and her husband Raymond, of Bradford; grandchildren, Nicole LaBranche of Jacksonville, Fla, David Alartosky and fiancé Emily Cail , of Helena, Mont., Douglas LaBranche and his wife Joana of York, Maine,  and Laura Alartosky of Haverhill; and great grandchildren, William, Elliana, Charles, James, Xavier, Knox and Lucy; and many nieces and nephews.

A Funeral Mass will be held in St. John the Baptist Church, 114 Lincoln Ave., Haverhill, Saturday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m.

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