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MARIELLE CRAW
Born: Jul 27, 1950
Date of Passing: Sep 12, 2025
Send Flowers to the Family Offer Condolences or MemoryMARIELLE CRAW
It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Marielle Craw (Labossiere) but with great joy we celebrate and remember the loving, spirited and positive force she was in our family, her community and in all the lives she touched.
Marielle was born on July 27, 1950, to Meo and Lucienne (Grenier) Labossiere. She was the baby of the family, with five siblings: Edna (Bob), Vic (Diane), Gilbert (Lucette), Wilfred (Solange), and her lifelong best friend Florette (Lawrence). She grew up on a humble farm in the small French-Canadian town of St. Leon, Manitoba. She shared so many memories with us from her formative years that included rides in their family vehicle (a horse drawn wagon/sleigh!), her family dancing around a wood oven fire to her father’s fiddling and of course her precious pet racoon “Tutu”. She graduated from Somerset High School in 1968 then left for the city of Winnipeg to work as a nurse’s aide at the Misericordia Hospital to save up for an LPN course at St. Boniface Hospital. She graduated with her LPN designation in 1970 and around this time met the love of her life, Don, at a baseball game, which would prove to be fitting since she’d accompany him to ball diamonds across the continent for decades to come. They hit the ground running and were married in 1971 and had their first child, Kenny, in 1972. Then came David in 1973 and Michelle in 1975 - and Marielle was still just 25 years old herself! She continued working on a part-time basis as an LPN at the Grey Nuns Provincial House and then the Holiday Haven nursing home until 1986 - mostly on Sundays, when the family truly recognized her immense cooking skills in her absence (her tourtiere and chicken parmigiana were stand-outs!). But being a wife and mother was always where Marielle put her focus with unwavering love, support and the ability to serve as our north star for what kind of human being we should all aspire to be. She was the kindest, most genuine, down to earth, non-judgemental person you could meet. She saw the best in people but also had no time for blowhards or self-aggrandizing behaviour. She was grounded and real and that brought out the best in everybody around her. This temperament served her well in her second career from 1986 to 1998 as a teaching assistant at Beaumont Elementary School and River West Park Elementary and Junior High. She primarily worked with special needs children, helping them attain confidence and life skills that would endear her to them for years after they’d left school.
Travelling and seeing the world was important to Marielle, and over the years she ventured across most of North America with her family. Upon retirement she and Don became snowbirds in Mesa, Arizona where she enjoyed staying active hiking, playing slow pitch and working on her paintings and crafts. It was around this time she took on another starring role as Grandma to seven grandchildren she cherished and who adored her in return; milking every cuddle, kiss and moment they could get. She was the center of our family and our rock, which made these past few years difficult as we watched her slip away due to Alzheimer’s.
She spent the past few years in the Deer Lodge memory care unit where she received an abundance of love and care from the staff who became like another family to her. Many came by to say their good-byes last week and shared how she’d brighten their days with her gentle playful energy and her smile. Oh, that smile. That big, beautiful smile. Which of course was an extension of her big, beautiful heart. It will beat on in the rest of the family she has left behind; Don (husband), Kenny (son, partner Sonja), David (son, wife Angie), Michelle (daughter, husband Gio) and her precious grandchildren, Riley, Georgia, Ethan, Rebecca, Callum, Emily and Taggart. You will live on in our hearts forever, Marielle, mom and grandma. The best parts of who we are is what you helped us become. We love you.
In lieu of flowers, Marielle asked that donations be made to Siloam Mission.
A celebration of life will be held at the worship room on the second floor of Deer Lodge Centre, 2109 Portage Ave., on Saturday, October 11, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 20, 2025
