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Guy (Road King) Lafebve

Big Dog

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It comes with heavy heart to announce the passing of Guy (Road King) Lefebve. I just got the call from his wife Denise. He had issue with his heart a little more than a year ago and had recovered nicely. He left early today suddenly. He had a picture frame shop in Lowell, MA for many years until retiring to ME

I met Guy on FF and became close when he wanted to park truck/trailer at my place to do a cross country motorcycle ride. I rode with him the first day to get him out of Pittsburgh. He returned 3 weeks later .....

Since then we visited each other when ever we could. I did work and made motorcycle rides to the NH/ME area and always stopped in to visit him. Met him and Denise at Gettysburg once (He was a huge Civil Way buff)

Just last Summer Denise and him did a 7 weeks tour of history, horror, and 4 wheeling in his new 4Runner. Denise is a huge horror flick fan and they stopped and spent the night with us. We saw them off the next day at the grave site from "Night of the Living Dead". Last time I saw him in person was watching him walk into the Night of the Living Dead museum. I already miss him ................
 

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bczoom

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I am so sorry to hear this. :(
My condolences to his wife and family.
I've only known him through the forum but after 13 years of being together here, I can say he was a good man and friend.
 

pirate_girl

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You know, I wondered why he hadn't been posting.
It always hurts when we lose one of the FF family.
Thanks for letting us know, Doggie.
Very sad indeed.
 

Doc

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Ahhh so sorry to hear this. :(
Guy made a point of stopping by close to where I was working and we had coffee and he made a nice donation to FF. A good guy all around. I'm glad you got to know if pretty well Dawg. You guys had some kewl riding time adventures together. Awesome. Remember the good times.
 

Big Dog

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http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_32581572/guy-lefebvre-lover-lowell-history-dies-at-70

LOWELL -- Guy Lefebvre, a fixture around Lowell and an expert in Mill City art and history, died Wednesday at the age of 70.

The married father of four daughters spent roughly 25 years framing Lowell's prints, canvases and various historical oddities while running the Lowell Gallery on Central Street.

"I've always liked history," Lefebvre said during a video interview with The Sun in August 2014.

"I'm a voracious reader," he added. "I tend to like going back in time."
In addition to Lefebvre's time running Lowell Gallery, he also made room for the Lowell Historical Society Board of Directors, and the Whistler House Museum of Art.

"He was a great collector of all things Lowell," Marie Sweeney said. "No. 1, he was a collector. Collector of Lowell things, primarily. He loved Lowell and he loved Lowell's history."

Lowell artisan Janet Lambert-Moore was close friends with Lefebvre. She shared memories of his expertise in framing and his deep interest in the Civil War.

Lefebvre had what seemed like an endless collection books on the subject, and he even knew the names of the first casualties of the Civil War who were from Lowell.

"He was a big Civil War buff," Lambert-Moore said. "He had been to Gettysburg a dozen-plus times."

Sara Bogosian, president and executive director of the Whistler House Museum of Art, recalls Lefebvre showing up at events around the city wearing Civil War-era battle garb.

"He had an interest in history, and was knowledgeable about a lot of different subjects," Bogosian said. "He had a keen sense of what had happened throughout the history of Lowell. He had done a lot of research."
"It's so sad that he's gone," she added. "We never thought he was going to go much too early."

Following his retirement from Lowell Gallery, Lefebvre made the move with his wife to Maine. The Lowell Gallery still operates under different ownership.

"Lowell will survive," Lefebvre said in The Sun video interview. "Lowell always has, and I strongly believe it always will, regardless of what happens. It will take its knocks, but it will be here long after I'm gone."



 

Big Dog

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http://richardhowe.com/2019/04/17/farewell-guy-lefebvre-a-lowell-connector/

Farewell, Guy Lefebvre, a Lowell Connector

We learned today that Guy Lefebvre passed away at his home in Maine. Our sympathy goes to his family and many friends. I will always remember Guy’s good spirit and generosity in the years that he ran his Lowell Gallery at the corner of Central and Jackson streets in downtown Lowell. I got to know him through our mutual enthusiasm for historic Lowell, a topic with infinite handles and seemingly no limits. As my friend and co-blogger Marie Sweeney says with a laugh, “There’s always a Lowell connection.” Guy was a living Lowell Connector in his day, always ready to support city heritage initiatives and make time to help people who were doing the history thing.

When I first met him, I called him “Guy,” saying it in English, the hard G with EYE, like GUEYE, but then realized he used the French pronunciation, the hard G and long E sound, like GUEE. And his last name wasn’t easy when you looked at it on paper, one of those French surnames with silent letters when said the French way: Le-FEB (vre) or Le-FEV. Some people said La-FAVE or La-Feeber. I liked that he nudged you to say GUEE and that he was proud to be French Canadian-American.

We worked together on a limited-edition print in tribute to the Ladd & Whitney Monument in front of Lowell City Hall. He said he’d do a print and frame copies if I wrote something original. I don’t know if he sold 10 copies after we did the project, but I enjoyed collaborating with him. He was quick to take books I’d written for sale in the gallery. We did better with those than the limited-edition print over the years. His gallery, while a small business offering framing services and artwork for sale, was as much of a cultural asset as some of the city museums, even though just slightly larger than a phone booth (an artifact of the pay-phone era—he may have had an old Lowell phone booth in storage, complete with numbers scribbled inside like GL-20048, the GL for Glenview). Local people or visitors could walk in and look at the paintings and historic photos, prints, etchings, and maps on the walls—for free. You knew you would see Janet Lambert-Moore’s colored sketches of Lowell scenes. I know some of them came back to buy something special or ask Guy to do a custom frame-job on an autographed photo or an award certificate or a favorite movie poster, as I did for a “Doctor Zhivago” collectible poster the size of a small banner.

Guy had a million interests, some of which he talked about during his radio appearances on WCAP about 20 steps away from his gallery. His private collection of Lowell photographs, Benjamin Butler illustrations, rare postcards, and more put him in the elite category of collectors of Lowell items. He presided at the gallery counter a little like an old-time bartender who enjoyed the back-and-forth with customers.

Many of us were happy that he found buyers for the Lowell Gallery who have kept the business going and then some. We were also glad that he got a break from the “office” and was able to have time away up country for several years. We hear people say that someone was “an original,” often after they’ve passed. It goes without saying that Guy Lefebvre was his own guy, original and authentic, who leaves a legacy of stories, laughs, and lasting contributions to Lowell.
 

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Melensdad

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Wow so sad. My condolences to his family.

Its amazing how we get to know each other on this forum, even when few of us get the chance to meet in person. We make connections and become friends. We turn to each other for advice and consolation, and we share happy times as if we were all best of friends.
 

Big Dog

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Wow so sad. My condolences to his family.

Its amazing how we get to know each other on this forum, even when few of us get the chance to meet in person. We make connections and become friends. We turn to each other for advice and consolation, and we share happy times as if we were all best of friends.


Yep, and I have so benefited from those that have passed. This forum has been a huge benefit to me!


Big Al designed my garage commonly called the Garagemahall!


Jerry designed the lighting for the Garagemahall.


Guy turned out to be a wonderful personal friend.


All three from FF and I'm so glad I got to meet Jerry and Guy. Sadly I never got the pleasure of meeting Al but we kept in touch and he was very intelligent and great conversation.
 
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