CECILE MARIE DUBOIS (née DESMARAIS)

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CECILE MARIE DUBOIS
(née DESMARAIS)

It is with sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of our darling mother, at her home in Winnipeg, on December 1, 2020, after a brief battle with cancer. Family members were present. Mom was 82.
Born on June 20, 1938 in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Mom was the girl with the sweet angel face who fell in love with the guy with the curly blond hair, her future husband, Gerard. They were married on May 15, 1954 and had seven children: Linda (husband Tim), Larry, Nicole, Lilliane (Rob), Gerald (wife Anita), Richard (wife Tara) and Marcel (partner Jean-Jacques).
Mom was grounded but also spiritual and humble. She loved to read and instilled in us a deep love for books, tethering us to a ship of dreams and imagination. She loved to share stories that would excite and delight us. Mom wasn't a person who loved to travel; instead, we journeyed with our minds to the far flung stars and back, back to home, to love, and the unfolding night.
Often quiet but always watching, Mom loved music and introduced the house to classical but brought us home to country. Oh the dances we shared, and the tears and the laughter! Together we learned to love the moment, to appreciate the smallest, most precious of things, whether a bean, a song, or porridge and rhubarb pie.
Mom was no stranger to hard times which, like cold prairie winters, could prove rather daunting. She was working, like her husband, but she had not finished high school as a girl, and she was determined to get her diploma, which she did as an adult student at Red River Community College. She was proud of that moment, and we were proud, too.
And while Mom braved many storms, she planted the seeds to a garden that fed us all. We ate apples from our backyard tree and listened to music beneath a moonlit summer sky. We gathered in the kitchen and shared stories of living and loving and sorrow. We continued to grow and she followed us along, and her kind heart never seemed to falter.
Her concern for others led her to complete a health care program, and Mom later spent a large part of her life caring for the sick, elderly and dying at Beacon Hill Lodge. Shy but understanding, she gave hope when there was none. She was patient. We are forever grateful, Mom, that you were the person you were (and will continue forever to be). We cannot tell you enough that your life has meaning, and that you give our lives meaning, too.
We hug you and whisper a final farewell from this life, dearest Mom. And soon, once the clouds have passed us by and the sun has finally set, we will see you on the other side and say...
Hello.
Mom was predeceased by Dad, our brother Larry (who died in infancy), her siblings, Ernie, Annette and Alice, and her mother, Alphonsine. She will be remembered by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her younger sister, Lillian (husband Marcel).
Thanks to Doctor Musleh at the Saint Boniface Access Centre for helping move things quickly so Mom could stay at home in her final days, and to the palliative care nurses for the support they provided.
As per her wishes there will be no funeral. Mom will be interred next to her husband at Saint Boniface Cemetery in the near future.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 05, 2020