Jeraldine (Hardigan) Lavender
 
Jeri Lavender of East Falmouth, MA passed away peacefully with her family at her side on June 10, 2024.   She was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Russell R. Hardigan Sr. and Winifred (Blanchard) Hardigan.  She grew up in Natick, MA and following graduation from Norton High School she moved to Norton, MA and worked at Fernandes Super Market for 12 years. In 1973 Jeri married David Lavender Sr. and they moved to East Falmouth, MA.
 
Jeri is survived by her daughter, Kim Wilson of South Yarmouth, her son Michael Lavender and his wife Rose of Dennis and her brother Russell Hardigan Jr. of South Yarmouth.  Also surviving is her grandson Joshua Carvalho of South Yarmouth, great grandson Benjamin Carvalho of Brewster and eight nieces and nephews.
 
Horses were Jeri’s passion.  Her father bought her first horse for her when she was 16.  She went on to build her own horse barn where she enjoyed the company of her Arabian stallion “Lancer”.  They had a very special bond for 30 years.  Many friendships were formed with people and their horses while boarding out the barn.
 
In addition, Jeri loved art and created many beautiful pieces of stained glass in addition to painting and working with leather.
 
Her presence in all the lives she touched will certainly be missed.  She was always willing and ready to help anyone in need.
 
A celebration of her life will held in August. Contributions in her memory may be made to the MSPCA, Falmouth Rd., Centerville, MA 02632.  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Jeri, my cousin, was simply the best of us.

Jeri, my cousin, was simply the best of us.

Jeri was a gift to all who knew her - so positive, so generous, so caring, full of strength and love. She was so proud of her family! My sincerest condolences go out to Kim, Josh, Michael, Benjamin, and all Jeri’s extended family and friends.

Jeri and I were born two months apart, and even thought we were cousins, we grew up being more like sisters. I think I will now refer to her as my sister-cousin, because she was much more to me than a cousin. I could write pages about all of the experiences we shared over the past seventy five plus years. She was the person, who was exactly the person she appeared to be, what you saw was what you got, not a single air about her.Because of Jeri's love of horses, we did some things that most preteen girls never would have done. One of the most memorable things was building a pretty large corral for her horse Banner. Her dad cut down small trees, and we dug holes for the poles and tied the trees together with rope. This was again done when she moved from Natick to Norton.I will always have memories, of the many fun, happy things we did. I will forever miss you my sister-cousin!