CECILE PALLARD

Cécile Marie Pallard née Durand

1924 March 9 – 2020 January 3

Cécile Pallard passed away at Dufferin Place, Nanaimo, 3 January 2020.  She is survived by her children: Claire (Roger Belanger), Lucille, Marc (Maureen), Roger (Wendy Schmidt), Norman (Jackie) and Paul; her grandchildren: Marie Boucher (Mark Jensen), Michel (Melissa) and James Boucher, Daniel and Kevin (Leah) Pallard, Andrea and Emily Pallard, Lucas, Brodie (Tianna Nichols),  Rosalie and Evelynne Pallard, Abby Pallard;  great-grandchildren: Ava and Geneviève Boucher, Colin Pallard;  brothers: Léandre and Alain Durand;  sisters-in-law: Thérèse Désorcy, Alice Pallard, Aline Durand, Deanna Durand; nieces and nephews across Canada and relatives in France.   She is predeceased by her husband, Raymond (2007), son Louis (1981), grandson Louis Boucher (1983);  brothers: Paul, Hubert, Damien Durand;  sisters: Thérèse Fouasse, Gertrude Simoens;  brothers-in-law: Joseph and Emmanuel Pallard, Norman Fisher, Rennie Desorcy, Robert Fouasse, Jean Simoens; sisters-in-law: Louise Fisher, Hélène Durand, Thérèse Pallard. She was the eldest child of Maxime Durand and Marie Josèphe LeMoullec. 

She was born and raised in Notre Dame de Lourdes MB and, in 1950 when she married, moved to Vancouver where she and Ray raised their family and established a family business.  In 2002, she moved to Nanaimo to be closer to her children.  She was involved with her children and grandchildren at École Bilingue, École Océane, Sea Cadets as well as parish activities at Saint Sacrement (Vancouver) and St Peters (Nanaimo). For many years, she hosted international students.  Cecile and Ray heartily welcomed family and friends from across Canada and the world. 

The family recognizes the compassionate care provided by the care aides, LPNs,  RNs, Food Services and other staff of Dufferin Place to Cécile and her family.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to L’Association des Francophones de Nanaimo https://francophonenanaimo.org/en/

The funeral mass will be celebrated by Fr Jozef Kobos, SDS, Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 10:45AM at Trinity Catholic Church, 6234 Spartan Road, Nanaimo V9T 2N9.  Telford Funeral Services. 

EULOGY:

Bonjour, Good Morning,

My name is Alice Arnal.  I am Cécile’s first cousin and my Mother and her were very close.  I suspect that this is why I was asked to speak this morning.

I am to tell you about a young Cécile living in Manitoba.  To be honest, I have had to consult her remaining brothers, Léandre and Alain, and my family for information, as Cécile left MB when I was only 3 years old.  I do however remember my Mom saying how Cécile and her sister Thérese used to visit their GrandMaman Durand when Mom was still living at home and she described them as extremely chatty (she nicknamed them “des petites pintades”) as they talked incessantly with very high voices.  She loved them!

Her brothers described their young years with Cécile as uneventful.  They say they enjoyed a harmonious family life back in Notre Dame.  Both of them agreed that she tended to be bossy, opiniated and forceful with them.  There was no such thing as not liking cooked carrots – you just ate them.  It was much the same at my place when growing up.  They also described her as a “daddy’s girl” and said she took full advantage of the situation. They understand that these traits tend to be typical of first-borns.  Wouldn’t you guys agree?

Ma grande soeur Rosette se souvient des séjours chez nous.  Elle me décrit Cécile : «   joyeuse, agréable, et créative.  Elle jouait avec nous, nous enseignant des nouveaux jeux.  Elle savait écouter en profondeur le partage de nos secrets de jeunes. »

Cécile shared with me that she had spent time at our place, helping Mom out with sewing and especially mending, which Mom didn’t really like doing.  In fact, my siblings Gérald and Odile remember that Cécile had to tackle heaps of mending when at our place and Odile has fond memories of the beautiful little dress Cécile made for her.  Cécile also came to help when I was born.  I guess I may have been a handful even back then!

Cécile was generous to a fault.  To quote Norman “there are so many people who benefitted from my mom and dad’s generosity.  I have always thought about how my parents treated others.  Everyone who was a friend was treated like family, and family was always welcomed.  And if family was around, you invited them to your table and fed them.”  Nicely said Norman.

I for one, benefited from that generosity.   When in need, I was, without hesitation adopted into that boisterous, chatty, fun-loving family and personally found Cécile to be welcoming, understanding and helpful beyond description.  I too, had a cute dress made for me by Cécile.

Everyone who walked thru the Pallard door was welcomed, fed and encouraged.  We were driven around to discover Vancouver and the province.  Cécile was also a great cook and baker.  She was very creative in the kitchen and miraculously created flavorful and healthy dishes with very ordinary ingredients that she had on hand.  She always made sure to use plenty of vegetables, typical of having been born a Durand!  Her kids tell me her favorite flowers were the blooms on her tomato plants!

Contrary to what her brothers had shared, I found Cécile showed amazing patience with her many kids.

I will always remember the youngest boy at the time, Norman, 2 years old went to a period of cupboard exploration – usually at meal preparation times.  He would roll canned goods all over the large kitchen floor.  Cécile would simply say: ‘Oh Normand’.  After he was done, we simply picked them up. That went on for several days.  After a time I guess the “thrill was gone” for the 2 year old and he stopped – there was no drama, no reprimands, no scarring, life simply went on.  I had never seen such patience and it left an impression.

Cécile was discreet and accepting.  She was forceful only when necessary.  This is the Cécile I knew-perhaps maturity had something to do with it – she may have been metamorphosing into her mother (as described by Alain). 

What could be described as stubbornness has had its benefits.  I am to this day, surprised, in awe in fact, to receive emails and texts from the family from the oldest to the youngest written in French.  It couldn’t have been easy to raise kids to be perfectly bilingual in Vancouver.

Je suis toujours estomaquée de constater que tous les jeunes chez Cécile et Raymond s’adresse, écrivent et nous texte en français.  Un attachement à leur langue maternelle fait preuve de grande patience et détermination car ça n’a pas dû être facile d’élever des enfants parfaitement bilingues à Vancouver!

This is the Cécile I had the pleasure and good fortune to be related to, to get to know and love and to get to share with you.  This is how I will remember her.