Lois A. (Hidu) Caron

Lois Ann Caron (nee Hidu) passed unexpectedly on July 11, 2023. She passed away at Yale New Haven Health surrounded by loving family and friends. She was 82 years of age.

Born in Bridgeport, Lois grew up in the Greenfield Hill area of Fairfield. She is predeceased by her parents Louis and Norma Hidu, and former husband Roger Caron.  She is survived by her sister Patricia Hidu of Fairfield, her brother Louis Hidu & his husband Kevin Goddard of Coalfield, Tennessee, her nephew Michael Liam Murphy of Fairfield, and many cousins.

Lois, throughout her life, was a woman of formidable talents. She decided at an early age to banish the word "can't" from her vocabulary. Long before there was an active womens' rights movement, Lois embodied many of those principles, that she could travel and explore the world on her own, that she didn't have to be someone's employee and could build her own business from the ground up, and that she could succeed in those endeavors.

Blessed with an inquisitive intellect and determined disposition, Lois was able to explore and master a wide array of disciplines and interests. She possessed an infectious optimism, even in the face of naysayers. She confidently trusted in her own instincts, whether in matters of lifestyle, or artistic endeavor. She was not a person who followed trends.

Lois was an avid reader, immersing herself in a couple of books each week. Her reading interests were expansive; classics, fiction, history, sewing and needlecraft, art, and world cultures to name a few. She was always willing to share books that particularly resonated with her with friends and family. Her collection of cookbooks was large and encyclopedic.

She was an adventurous cook, always eager to try out new tastes and cuisines. She was often quite daring in her recipe choices. Her Christmas Eve dinners were always special and looked forward to by friends and family.

Lois possessed a real love for travel. It seems that she was always either on an adventure or in the midst of planning a new one. She approached travel not as a tourist per se, but rather as a traveler eager to make each trip into an opportunity to explore, to learn, and to make new friends. She traveled to just about every region on earth. Her destinations were as different as a comfortable river cruise through Portugal to those more challenging such as visiting the mountain gorillas of Rwanda and trekking across the breadth of Mongolia (twice!). Whenever talking about past or planned travels, Lois beamed and her eyes sparkled.

Amidst all these interests, she also found time to create and build her own successful business, which she helmed until her untimely death, The Caron Collection, based in Stratford. You are encouraged to explore the company website to learn all about the company and view some of her spectacular designs.

"It all began when Lois started shopping for some needlepoint kits to re-cover a set of dining room chairs that had belonged to a great aunt. Her great aunt had taught her to crochet when she was 8 and in her 20's she learned to knit, but somehow needlepoint had always seemed like a stuffy, Victorian pastime. What a surprise when she discovered she enjoyed stitching! She never finished the chairs but within months she was designing patterns based on oriental rugs. After approaching a needlework shop, which expressed interest in selling her patterns, she started hand painting patterns on needlepoint canvas. Later she started dabbling in dyeing fibers and began experimenting with variegated colors. It wasn't long before tubs of dyes and threads covered her kitchen floor.

Over the years the business has moved into successively larger quarters – from Lois’ kitchen to her basement and, ultimately, to the current 8,000 square foot industrial space. The staff, a loyal group of people from diverse backgrounds, has grown with the company."  Debbie Clark the first employee celebrated 42 years of employment in 2023. Debbie was with Lois when the business was in its earliest stages as a home business.

Lois recognized that her staff were an exceptional group of individuals and she treasured each of them. Each was treated with respect and dignity, and each, in turn, supported and loved Lois. The Caron Collection is a team effort and that bond that Lois nurtured is a large part of the reason the company has expanded from a modest hobby in her home basement to a company with an international customer base.

Lois was a true artist and the scope of her imagination seems limitless. For her, life presented her with the opportunity of always having new doors to be opened.

After the passing of their parents, she involuntarily became the bedrock of her family, offering guidance when sought, dispensing thoughtful advice when necessary, and in her way becoming the North Star of the family, a steadfast anchor that we looked to for strength and stability.

Despite all of her achievements, she never sought the limelight, and was often embarrassed when it was thrust upon her. Rather, she sought to encourage others to follow their muse and reach for their happiness. Lois enriched the lives of those she loved and knew. She in turn, was enriched by the people who came into her life and shared their lives' experiences.

Though Lois left us far too early, still full of energy and ideas, the time here that she had, that she shared, was her living her best life and living it well. Please join us in celebrating the life of this remarkable human being.

A celebration of her life will occur August 4th at  4PM, with visitation from 2-4 PM at Spear Miller Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Road, Fairfield.

A private internment will be held at a future date.