Maria Louisa Millett

PRINCETON - Maria L. Millett, 65, passed away peacefully with loved ones on the evening of February 8, 2025. She was born on December 17, 1959, in Brooklyn, NY to Knolly Everard Millett born in Trinidad, and Mavis Mercedes (de Bourg) Millett born in Cuba. She grew up in Long Island, NY and was the second youngest of five siblings. Maria attended Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Tufts University in 1981, and her master's degree in public health from Boston University in 1990. Although she remained a die-hard New Yorker, Maria stayed in Massachusetts after college, and eventually settled in Princeton, MA with her husband Kern Jean Bayard and two daughters, Micaela and Solange.

Maria was a woman of incredible strength, compassion, and grace. Her nurturing spirit was matched only by her fierce dedication to her family and close friends. Maria embodied the vision of beloved community: community health consultant for the Massachusetts Prevention Center and Worcester public schools, adjunct faculty at Worcester State and Quinsigamond Community Colleges, board member for the YWCA of Central Massachusetts and Worcester Youth Center, volunteer for local causes including the Wachusett High School Building Committee and the University of Massachusetts Medical School Ethics Committee, and past president of the Boston Chapter of the Northeasterners, Inc..

Maria always loved to dance and was recruited to train at Alvin Ailey as a teenager. She could be found dancing to her favorite songs, sharing stories with her close friends, making her famous "Noni rice" as it was coined by her grandson, shopping for her children and grandchildren, gardening, volunteering at the church food pantry, and always driving to NYC.

She is survived by Kern J. Bayard, daughters Micaela F. Bayard and Solange E. Bayard; grandchildren Mael and Matisse Milord; siblings Eileen D. Millett, Mercedes Glasel, Marjorie Millett, and Jacques Pierre Millett; son-in-laws Patrick Milord and Chris Higgins; niece Marta Glasel; nephews Elliott M. Welburn, Solomon Glasel, Austin Millett, and Shay Millett; first cousins William Carpentier and Ian Millett, countless cousins from New York to Trinidad; and the many friends whose lives she has touched forever. May she rest in peace knowing that she will always be deeply loved.

Calling hours will be held on Friday, February 28 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Miles-Sterling Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held at St. Richard Parish in Sterling at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, 2025.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial donation to support a student studying science https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-honor-maria-l-milletts-legacy .