ANTOINETTE LEE

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ANTOINETTE LEE David, Ken and Norman Lee and their families lost their golden girl , Antoinette Lee on Tuesday, September 8, 2009, at the age of 84. Ann's most important legacy to her sons, their partners - Peggy, Sandy and Michelle - and her grandchildren is the shared sense of the importance of family, a family that gathered around her to support her through her difficult final days of pain and discomfort from cancer. Ann treasured her grandchildren - Lindsey, Kathryn, Jamie, Lara, Rob and Nikki. Ann is survived also by her sisters, Florence and Simone and her brother Albert, all of Montreal. Ann was a strong, determined woman - feisty, some would say - who overcame the adversity of her early life to work many years at Red River College, retiring to become granny , a role she enjoyed immensely. Ann was born Marie Rollande Antoinette Mailloux in Ste. Angele, Quebec. Her mother died at an early age so she spent many of her early years in an orphanage which she left at age 12 to help raise her brothers and sisters. She left home at age 16 to work in a munitions plant. She met and married Jack Lee, March 1, 1945 moving to Toronto shortly after that where they would raise three sons. The family moved to Winnipeg in 1956. In spite of difficult financial circumstances, Mom provided us with everything we would need to grow into strong, healthy and successful adults, supporting our many activities, especially in sports, after putting in a full work day. This was a tradition she carried on with her grandchildren's activities. Ann emphasized the value of education and hard work to her children, modeling that importance by returning to school to finish her high school education before receiving a diploma as an administrative assistant. She greatly enjoyed the work, friends and freedom that her many years in the secretarial pool and television studios at Red River College provided her. She especially loved to travel including trips to Europe, the U.S. and across Canada. She aspired to do more. In death, as always, Ann was her own person, making the decisions she wanted. She faced the end of her days choosing no treatment for her cancer, courageously and with the other important gift she bequeath us - humour. As your sons and family and grandchildren, we will miss you, Mom. We know you sacrificed your own ambitions and advancement so that we would have a better life. We know with your intelligence and curiosity to know more, there was so much more you could have done but you chose to give us opportunities instead. Thank you especially for showing us how to be good parents ourselves. Ann requested that we have a private family memorial. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Reh-Fit Centre, 1390 Taylor Ave. Winnipeg, MB.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 19, 2009