DOROTHY PELLERIN

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DOROTHY PELLERIN (née HARMER) 1934 - 2016 Dorothy was born to Blanche Harmer on March 18, 1934 in Cold Spring, near the farming and fishing community of Lundar, MB. She had a rough, rural childhood but it served to imprint upon her that special Interlake mettle, a strong determination to survive, and do well. When Dorothy was four, her mother married Joe Verhaeghe and gave her four brothers who loved, admired and respected their older sister to the very end. They include Victor (1937-2014), late of Calgary, Harry (1939-2013), late of Revelstoke, Jules (age 74) of Halifax, and Eugene (age 69) of Edmonton. Dorothy's mom became gravely ill and departed at the very young age of 35. Dorothy, then age 15, elected to live with her Uncle Harold and Auntie Phyllis Harmer to ensure she could finish high school. Harold and Phyllis were instrumental for this first step, as well as for providing guidance and support, along with many friends and family, toward the completion of her Registered Nurse degree at the Misericordia General Hospital in 1956. This achievement was worth a celebration! So she and her fellow Nurse Barbara Troop, with whom she shared duties at the Eriksdale, MB and Nipigon, ON Hospitals, took a couple years off (1958-1959) for a tour of Europe. It was while visiting and teaching in France, as an English assistant, that Dorothy met Franck, a student, who would shortly become her husband for 56 years! She returned to Canada in 1959 and Franck joined her three months later. They married the following year, on May 7, and honeymooned at Falcon Lake, a location that would become very important for the rest of their lives. Dorothy and Franck promptly founded a family: Franck Jr. in 1961, Stephen in 1962, Marc in 1963 and, finally, Colette in 1965. The family was raised with traditional Canadian and French values, with a tad of Interlake mettle, inevitably. The children were all very active in sports and grew very successful careers not unlike their parents'. Dorothy and her husband returned to Falcon Lake in 1970, with a young family in tow, to embrace the sport of sailing as if there would be no tomorrow. Dorothy showed the way, crewing with her husband on their superfast Fireball dinghy at many provincial and national races, and also, more comfortably, in keelboats at many Lake of the Woods International Sailing Regattas. Later, she participated in the administration of the Falcon Yacht Club, organizing the Junior Sailing School for several seasons and leading the Club as Commodore in 1993 and 1994. In 1974, tired of the Toniata campsite on Falcon Lake, Dorothy spotted what was going to become her home away from home and, without realizing it, her retirement home par excellence. A family cottage. For years, she would derive endless pleasure at packing the family to the lake as soon as the kids had finished their extra-early Saturday morning paper routes. Dorothy's children ensured the family expansion with seven grandchildren. Marc (52) introduced the first of these grandkids to the family with Lindsay (27) and Bryce (26), all in Winnipeg where Marc is one of the City's finest; then Colette (50) and Michael Cook (49) gave Rémy (16) and Michel (15), all in Kenora, ON, where Colette is a high school teacher; then Stephen (53) and Jill (née Fitzgerald) (41) gave Hannah (9), Jack (6) and Rachel (5), all in St-John's, NL, where Stephen is a senior consultant to large resource development projects. Franck Jr. has been a long time resident of Calgary from where he worked in the oil exploration field as a professional land surveyor. Dorothy retired in 1995, like her husband. Both immediately sold their home in Winnipeg and moved to Falcon Lake where they lived year around to this day, save many long spring trips to Franck's family in France. Dorothy made quite an impression on her in-laws who enjoyed her Canadian accent, appreciated her character, but also sought her guidance on all sorts of little health issues which she would dispense carefully but with good will. Her home in Falcon Lake has been the pivotal cradle of the whole family. It has also been the very best retirement home we could hope for and, mercifully, the only one she'll ever know. Dorothy began to experience some heart failure back in 2011. Since then, her condition has been carefully monitored with professional help from extremely competent physicians and specialists, including the remarkable staffs of the Ste-Anne and St-Boniface Hospitals. During the last few days of her life, she was surrounded by her four children, including Marc's wife Karen (née Neil), and her grandchildren from Winnipeg and Kenora, including Bryce's special friend Danielle Newell. She was never alone or in pain and always surrounded with love and comfort. Dorothy passed away March 20, 2016 in the evening. Her ashes are at home. When Falcon Lake's new cemetery will be completed in July of this year, family and friends will be invited to bid her goodbye at the columbarium. A celebration of life will follow.
Publish Date: Apr 2, 2016

DOROTHY PELLERIN Dorothy Pellerin passed away March 20, 2016 in the Cardiology Unit of the St. Boniface General Hospital. She was 82. Cremation has taken place. Full obituary to follow.
Publish Date: Mar 24, 2016

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 02, 2016