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.

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."

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