‘She loved everybody’

Decorated dog breeder who fostered dozens of children built her life on loving others

By: Eva Wasney

Pat LaRue had a knack for drawing people in with her warm personality — and her legendary hugs.

“She loved everybody,” son Tim LaRue says.

“Even strangers — she always wanted hugs from everyone,” daughter Laurie Lyss adds.

Born Aileen Patricia Charlotte Williams, Pat became known as mom, auntie and grandma to droves of friends beyond her large, close-knit family. She died in July at the age of 93.

Pat and her eight siblings grew up during the Depression in a home built by their father, who worked as a mason. The quaint St. Boniface residence remains in the family and has been the site of sprawling Williams clan gatherings for generations, with the biggest annual parties falling on St. Patrick’s Day and New Year’s Eve.

Pat met her husband Charles Edward (Ted) LaRue at a friend’s house party in 1952. The couple eloped several months later in an attempt to save their parents the financial burden of hosting a reception, but the familial urge to celebrate was too great.

“Grandma and grandpa threw them a party anyway,” Lyss says with a laugh.

Pat and Ted were married for 61 years and together built a busy, loving life.

At the same time they were raising their own four kids — Keith, Tim, Laurie and Todd — the couple welcomed 47 foster children into their home, many of whom were infants with complex health conditions. Adoptive son Joey was one such case, arriving in the LaRues’ care at three months old with respiratory issues and later becoming a permanent member of the family.

“She had an open heart and wasn’t concerned about any of the difficulties that can come with fostering. She loved children and babies, right up until her final days,” son Todd LaRue says.

Pat was a natural caregiver, but childminding was a shared household responsibility. The LaRue kids were often charged with feeding and changing their foster siblings’ cloth diapers — tasks that were done without complaint.

“You’d get a kid plunked down, you’d get the diaper bag and that was it, you were off,” Joey says, adding it was hard to say goodbye when the time came. “You cried when they left, because it was something you got attached to.”

The connection was mutual for several foster children who kept in touch long after moving on.

Pat’s open heart extended to animals as well, from pet budgies and hamsters to cats and dogs. The menagerie grew to include rabbits, chickens, horses and a few calves when the family moved to a five-acre plot north of Transcona and started hobby farming.

The extra space enabled Pat to follow her dream of raising St. Bernard dogs, a breed she admired for their loving, protective nature. Case in point: their dog Lady Amanda of Springfield, a.k.a. Mandy, once landed on the front page of the Winnipeg Tribune for saving a foal from freezing to death in the middle of a cold winter night.

Pat and Ted started breeding St. Bernards for showing and at one point found themselves caring for 25 puppies when two litters were born at the same time. Again, the kids were involved caretakers.

“I spent most of my very young years climbing in whelping boxes with puppies; that was a special experience,” Todd says.

Dog shows took the couple across Canada and into the United States. Although they amassed ribbons and trophies and produced several champion dogs, the events were more social than competitive for Pat.

She was an active member of the Canadian Kennel Club for more than 50 years and collected many friends through the Saint Fanciers Club of Manitoba, a local hub for fellow St. Bernard enthusiasts co-founded by the LaRues.

Pat also delighted in sharing her dogs with the public, especially kids. She brought the gentle giants to community events, such as the Teddy Bears’ Picnic and Red River Ex, and appeared with the dogs several times on a local children’s television show.

The family later added Shetland sheepdogs to the mix, Ted’s dog breed of choice.

The LaRues’ breeding and showing operation was dubbed the Lazy L Kennel — a nod to the family name, but “Mom joked that it was because everybody there was lazy as ’ell,” Tim says, chuckling.

Pat had a wicked sense of humour — once dressing up as a cannibal for Halloween, with husband Ted as her meal — and a contagious laugh.

“The two of us would laugh until we were crying,” Lyss says.

She was a passionate Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan, a Doris Day devotee and a talented amateur artist who drew family portraits and Christmas cards. Her recipes for red velvet cake, Palm Springs cake and blitz torte were family famous.

Though they were spread across the country, Pat remained close with her sisters throughout her life. The six women travelled together to Ottawa, Calgary, Victoria and Grand Beach for annual weekend getaways.

Pat was, unsurprisingly, a hands-on grandmother. Beyond her own grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she became a surrogate grandmother to a family of refugees from Mozambique she befriended through church.

“Grandma was always around,” granddaughter Erin Doty says. “I just miss her so much.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com