Born: June 24, 1888
Died: November 5, 1957
Married: Hugh J. McCabe
Children: none
Lorette "Laura" McCabe nee Monakey (daughter of Tupper Lake doctor Peter Monakey) met her husband Hugh McCabe while she was in New York City, studying for her nursing degree. Hugh had tuberculosis and the couple moved to Saranac Lake for the fresh air cure. Hugh passed away in 1932 from tuberculosis. Lorette ran McCabe Nursing Cottage at 75 Franklin Avenue (previously 35 Franklin Avenue). Lorette's nieces, Jacqueline Charland and Cecile Charland, attended Saranac Lake High School, (although they were from Tupper Lake) and worked as tray girls at McCabe Cottage, bringing food trays to the patients during their lunch hour. Lorette would do all the cooking (dirtying every pot and utensil in the process) and have the trays prepared before each meal. She took care to make the food look appetizing to encourage patients to eat; each meal consisted of a starch, a protein, an orange vegetable, a green vegetable, and some type of dessert. During the time Jacqueline was running trays, the majority of patients were Norwegian sailors who came to Saranac Lake after being diagnosed with TB in New York City. At the time, the cottage housed roughly 12 patients. Like many cure cottages, McCabe Cottage had doors without thresholds connecting each patient’s room to the cure porch. At the time, there was at least one other nurse working at the Cottage as well as someone who helped with the cleaning. Lorette operated McCabe Cottage from at least 1931 to when she passed away in 1957.
This information was gathered during an interview with Kevin Healy, Lorette's great nephew. To listen to the interview please visit Historic Saranac Lake's Oral History Project's website.
Tupper Lake Free Press and Herald, November 7, 1957
Funeral Services to Be Held Saturday for Mrs. Lorette McCabe
Mrs. Lorette M. McCabe, 69. the former Lorette Monakey of this village died unexpectedly Wednesday morning at a Newport, R. I., hospital.
Death was attributed to a heart condition. The body will arrive here Friday and repose at the Richer Funeral Home until Saturday, when services will be held at 9 a. m. at St. Alphonsus Church. Burial will be at Saranac Lake.
She was born at Gouveneur June 24, 1888, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Peter Monakey, and was graduated from teachers' training school near Plattsburgh. The family moved to Tupper Lake about 60 years ago, and she taught in the local schools for several years before leaving to train for nursing at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York city. Thereafter she operated a nursing cottage at 45 Franklin ave., Saranac Lake, for more than 20 years. Her husband, H. J. McCabe, died in Saranac Lake in 1932.
Surviving are one brother, Arthur F. Monakey, Tupper Lake, and two sisters, Sister Agnes Cecile. superior of a convalescent home operated by the Sisters of the Holy Ghost at Uncasville. Conn., and Mrs. Louis (Beatrice) Charland, Tupper Lake.
