The family of a Korean War veteran can’t attend her funeral. The public is being invited to honor her.
A graveside funeral service for Eileen Robichaud will be held Friday morning in Methuen.
A Methuen funeral home is inviting the community to attend the burial of a decorated Korean War veteran whose surviving family is unable to attend her services. Eileen Robichaud, 84, died on Sept. 6 and a graveside funeral service with military honors is being held at Methuen’s Elmwood Cemetery at 11 a.m. on Friday. “The Kenneth H. Pollard Funeral Home would like to extend an invitation to the general public to join us in honoring the life of one of our nations hero’s who leaves behind no family able to attend her service,” funeral director Aaron Mizen wrote on Facebook last week.
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According to her obituary, Robichaud was an only child and grew up in Methuen “surrounded by a large extended family, including many cousins.” She enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school.
“A decorated Korean War veteran, she served honorably in a naval aviation squadron from September 8, 1953 to September 6, 1957,” her obituary reads. “After her service ended she moved to California, living with her aunt’s family until she found employment and housing in Torrance.”
Robichaud moved back to Methuen when her father became ill and opened a beauty salon. In the late ’70s, she “became restless” and went back to college part-time, according to her obituary.
“She was very intelligent, artistic and creative,” her obituary reads. “After selling her salon in the early ’80s, her entrepreneur skills surfaced and she became a consultant for essential oils, among other ventures. Eileen and her mother also purchased a 23′ Jamboree Camper to travel New England during their spare time. Eileen was a generous person, who loved her family. She will be lovingly remembered & missed by all of her cousins.”
Mizen told Boston 25 News he feels that no one should be buried alone and Robichaud’s cousins, who live across the country, are unable to attend.
“She was a pioneer in her own right,” the funeral director said of the 84-year-old veteran. “She enlisted in the Navy at a time when there were very few women in the military.”
