MARIE JEANNE DESROSIERS

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MARIE JEANNE DESROSIERS (née DUGAS) May 23, 1924 - February 16, 2015. To my children: I still can't believe that I almost made it to 91. I wish I could remember my last several years; especially the day that my Lucien passed away. How many times did I ask you, "Where's Dad"? You told me that he had passed away. I just asked in disbelief..."Really? Did I go to the funeral service?" If only I could have remembered such a milestone day in my life. I know you told me often but dementia is a horrible thing. But guess what? I found him and to nobody's surprise, he's fishing! Yes, we're together right now with lines in the water. It's so nice to be together once again. We know that you're all happy for us! To the rest of my family and friends, I had a pretty good life really. My parents, Ildas Dugas and Clémentine (née Manaigre) raised eight kids on the family farm near Lorette, MB. Four girls, Jacqueline, Thérese, Anna, me and four boys, Alphonse, Hector, Gérard and Come! Like the song goes, "we were poor but we had love..."! In the mid-1940s, while the world recovered from another war, I met this handsome young man from Ste. Genevieve, MB by the name of Lucien Desrosiers. Our love led us to get married in front of our families and friends on May 10, 1947. We settled in Lorette and worked at various jobs. Funny thing about small towns and big families back in those days! People didn't have to travel far to find love as my brother Alphonse married Lucien's sister Alice. Lucien and I started our own baby boom on September 1, 1948 with the birth of our twin boys Gilles and Gilbert. I could never thank my sisters and sisters-in-law enough for their help and support as I nursed and cared for two babies at once. Our lives were very busy with the boys and our business, Desrosiers Transfer, but we still found time and energy to move to Ste. Genevieve. On June 25, 1951 our third son Guy was born. Our daughter Liliane followed on April 5, 1953 and fourth son André on June 22, 1959. Lucien and his brothers had built us a nice house in Ste. Genevieve in the mid-1950s and that's where we lived for several years. In 1960, we literally moved the whole house and household to Ste. Anne, MB. As the kids got older I began working outside the home. For a while I worked at Chouinard's Restaurant. Then sometime around 1965, I started working as a nurse's aide at the Ste. Anne Hospital. It was steady work and a regular paycheque but more than that, I was able to help care for many relatives and friends who were patients from time to time. Lucien worked at the hospital too so we shared many memories of those 25 some odd years. Camping and travelling became very large parts of our family life. Our first camping trip was in 1966 when we rented a little cabin at Brereton Lake. In 1967, we borrowed a tent trailer and headed east to the Montreal Expo 67. Our son Gilbert was now living in Toronto so we visited with him before all heading for Montreal. 1072 In 1973, we sold the old house and built a new one in Ste Anne. From 1968 until the mid-1980s there weren't many spring and summer weekends that didn't have us camping somewhere! We camped all over Manitoba and northwest Ontario. Our travelling took us to the east and west coasts, Yukon, Alaska, Ontario, Québec and the northern U.S. states. And boy did we fish! Lucien and I loved a feed of fried walleye fillets. During our trip to Alaska, we caught and ate halibut and salmon! We lived in the second Ste. Anne house until our move to Winnipeg around 2001. Lucien and I had retired quite a few years earlier and the property had gotten too much to look after. We had some truly glorious and fun times in that house as our kids, their spouses and our grandkids often came to visit. Many times the house was so full that people were sleeping on the floor and in the campers that were parked in the back yard. We were blessed with some truly wonderful daughters-in-law and son-in-law. Yvette (Gilles), Gayle (Gilbert), Irene (Guy), André (Liliane) and Rachelle (André). You've been tremendous partners to our children and I can't thank you enough for that. We received wonderful gifts of grandchildren to nurture and spoil of course. Randy, Richard, Chantal, Gérald, Jocelyn, David, Danielle, Janelle and Serge! I love each one of you with all my heart and cherish our visits throughout your lives. It was a pleasure to watch you grow up to become kind and caring people; just like your Memère! Some of you have already found your own soul mates in Tracy, Jen, Scott, Wiljane, Mike, Aesia and Nyco respectively. To Danielle and Serge: Pepère and I have a good view from up here so we'll help you find that special someone. I'm very thankful to have gotten to know my great-grandchildren: Bodin, Peyton, Jenevieve, Gabrielle, Brody, Cole, Kenyan and Caitlyn. You've all made me a very happy great-grandmother. I'm also thankful for my sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and all the nephews and nieces that I was blessed with. So many of you took the time to come visit; particularly during these past few years! You can't believe how much that warmed my heart! I want to sincerely thank the wonderful people at Action Marguerite for taking care of me. Especially my nurse Nicole! You're a sweetheart! My last day was made very comfortable by the Emergency staff at the Victoria Hospital. You did so much to comfort my family and me. I am so grateful for that. Lastly, to my family! You always were my strength! Thank you all for being so warm and loving. On vous aime énormément! Comme de raison, Ti-Lou doit avoir le dernier mot. Il envoie ses bonjours à tout le monde! Cremation has taken place. A celebration of Marie Jeanne Desrosiers' life will be held at the Roman Catholic Church in Ste. Anne, MB at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, 2015. Interment of her ashes will occur at a date to be confirmed later. Arrangements by BIRCHWOOD FUNERAL CHAPEL 1-204-346-1030 OR 1-888-454-1030

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 21, 2015