| 3.20.2003
Lori K. Durante, 40; 'did so much for so many'
Lori K. Durante was a petite person -- but when she cheered for her sons'
sports teams, her voice could be heard above everybody else's.
Lori, 40, was a medical technician who worked second and third shifts
at West Warwick's West View Nursing Home. She would sometimes go without
sleep so she could attend the basketball and baseball games of her sons,
15-year-old Anthony, who attends West Warwick High School, and 13-year-old
Matthew, a student at St. Joseph's School.
Friend Susan Verrier, whose son goes to school with Matthew, said she
will miss seeing -- and hearing -- Lori at basketball games.
"She did everything for her boys," says Lori's sister, Tonda
Daniels, of Wakefield.
When she wasn't caring for her children and the residents of West View,
Lori was volunteering her time at St. Joseph's.
"She was a constant presence at the school," Susan said. "She
loved her boys, her patients at work, her friends -- and everybody loved
her. She did so much for so many people -- nothing was a chore for her."
All who knew her will remember Lori's sparkling blue eyes, bright smile
and distinctive laugh, Susan said.
Lori moved to West Warwick 15 years ago after having also lived in Warwick
and North Kingstown. She maintained a close relationship with her parents,
Paul and Betty Roe, and her brother, Jeffrey Roe, all of North Kingstown,
Tonda said.
Lori shared custody of her sons with her ex-husband, Anthony Durante
of West Warwick.
Her companion of two years, Tom Medeiros, 40, also died in the nightclub
fire. Lori met Tom while caring for his mother, who lives at West View.
Friend Deborah Parente, of Warwick, remembered Lori as an all-around
good person.
"She never had a bad thing to say about anybody," Deborah said.
Tonda says she will especially miss Lori during the holiday season, when
the entire family would always gather. But she said her sister's spirit
will live on in her sons, whose eyes resemble their mother's.
"When we look into their eyes we'll always know she was there."
-- Erin Emlock
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