<div itemprop="description">It is with great sadness that we announce the death of an outstanding woman. She was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, wife and friend to so many people. She always said that her family was the accomplishment of which she was the proudest. <br> <br>She was 99 years old. We were so lucky to have had her for so long and we are thankful for her love, courage, sense of humour, support and generosity with her time. <br> <br>Mom had 2 wonderful husbands to whom she was married for 25 years each. They loved each other deeply: Gerald Thompson (1920 – 1970) and John (Jack) Hayes (1928 – 1998). <br> <br>Pre-deceased by her son Patrick in 2018, she leaves 9 children to mourn her loss: Aletha (John Peters), Sharon (John Barnard), Janis (Paul Strom), Theresa (Graham Bigland), Jeffrey (Josée Larose), Jill (Danny DeSouza), Kathleen (Michael Berger), Thomas and Mari-Rose (John Parker) <br> <br>Her grandchildren loved “grandma” very much: Vaughn (Valerie Rouleau) & Monica Peters (Connor Bray-Stone), Nicholas Barnard (Fauziyah Salaudeen), Kirsten (James Armbruster), Coral (Andrew Creighton) & Kelsey Strom, Stephanie (Robert Moranelli), Thomas (Kaylea Webster) & Emily Bigland (Jonathan Raymond), Elizabeth (Lucas Zayonc) and Emma DeSouza, David (Nataliya Solomonyuk), Sabrina (Justin Fernandez), Rachel & Jeremy Berger, Sam Hayes, Rowan Ivor , Jessica (Eric Bateman), Stephen (Kenza Nahi), Megan & Kevin Parker. <br> <br>She had the chance to hold and love most of her 10 great grandchildren Charlotte and William Raymond / Abigail and Lillian Rouleau-Peters / Julia Bigland Moranelli, Soleyn Bigland / Madelaina, Damien and Rafael Fernandez and Ayden Berger. <br> <br>Marie was born on a farm in Mount Elgin Ontario, the eldest of 10. She has many family members who will mourn her passing. After high school Mom joined the Air Force and served as a secretary in stations from Toronto to Eastern Air Command in Halifax. <br> <br>At the age of 3 she lost her mother. Because of this, she knew exactly what she missed and made sure that her children would not miss the same things. We did not. Mom was always loving, supportive, principled and generous. <br> <br>She had many challenges, as a child, as a mother and a widow but overcame the obstacles with a smile on her face, a compliment in her voice and an ear to listen to other people’s stories. <br> <br>As she recently said: I have no regrets, I have had a wonderful life: full of love, good times and laughter!!! She wants to be remembered for her love and laughter and we believe she has accomplished this in spades! <br> <br>We all love you Mom and will miss you terribly. <br> <br>Many thanks to the amazing staff at Sainte-Anne’s Veterans Hospital. They have been compassionate and supportive for the past few years. <br>Visitation will be held Sunday April 27th 11:30 to 14:00, Memorial service 14:00 at Rideau Funeral Home 4239 Sources Blvd, Dollard-Des Ormeaux. <br>The memorial service will also be live-streamed at https://fweb.tv/179749. <br> <br>Donations in Mom’s honour may be made to: Dans La Rue (https://danslarue.org/en/donations/) or Quebec Veterans Foundation (https://fqv-qvf.ca/en/donate/) <br></div>
