Gagnon, Mamie Patricia "Mimi", 97, of Antigonish, passed away in the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home, Antigonish, on September 7, 2019.
Born in Québec City, Mimi was a daughter of the late Napoléon and Eleanora (Pagé) Fleury and wife of the late Bernard E.U. Gagnon of Vancouver.
Mimi met and fell in love with her future husband when he came to Québec City to attend the wedding of his sister to her brother. She was a loving wife, a devoted mother and a very involved and entertaining grandmother and great grandmother. But most of all, she was a wonderfully energetic homemaker whose great achievement in life was providing a warm, safe and caring environment (without any hired help) for a family of nine which beside the six children she bore and brought up, also included her mother-in-law, our Granny Rose. She did all this with her trademark "joie de vivre" (love of life), her great sense of humour and not least, her ability to produce the most delicious comfort food on the planet, and on a daily basis for all nine of us and possibly an extra friend or two. When asked (often by many different people) how she made everything taste so good, her standard reply, with a twinkle in her beautiful almond-shaped eyes, was: "I do it with love and butter". Among many other things, we all miss her wonderful meals!
Mimi was an extremely social and sociable lady, always managing to make personal connections with everyone she met and liked, be it her local (and self-designated) cab driver, the owner of her favourite pizza place, her neighbours, or anyone else she met and liked anywhere she went.
She was fiercely loyal to us, her family members, regardless of what situation we may have found ourselves in throughout our lives. She was always "for us" no matter what. Everything else could change, but that was always a constant. She had the capacity for great love and she was, in fact, loved by everyone she met. Her excitement at receiving our visits knew no bounds and we felt her warm welcome in so many ways. She was also always ready and willing to help with all of her generous heart in any way she could.
One of the most common and least remembered forms of heroism is the heroism of the average mother. Whatever else the world is not full of, it is at least full of mothers. And we are all so happy that our world was full of Mimi.
Mimi is survived by her children, Michèle (late Bill) Murphy, St. Andrews, NS; Andrée (husband Einar) Stephansen, Trondheim, Norway; Lee Gagnon, Mont Tremblant, PQ; Marc (wife Karen) Gagnon, Saint John, NB; Carl Gagnon, Montréal, PQ; and Roderick Gagnon, Vancouver, BC; her grandchildren, Thomas Murphy, St. Andrews; Marc (wife Emily) Murphy, California, USA; Sarah Murphy, Halifax, NS, and Toronto, Ontario; and Michael Murphy, Halifax; Carl Joakim (wife Monica) Gagnon, Oslo, Norway; and Kirsta (husband Patrick) Arseneault; and Kerry (husband Steve) Swonell, Victoria, BC; Dylan (wife Melissa) Gagnon, Halifax; and Morgan Gagnon, London, Ontario; and her great grandchildren Andreas Liodden Gagnon, Perry Leigh Arseneault, Madison Gale, Parker Gale, Quinn Swonell and Finn Gagnon.
Mimi is predeceased by her husband Bernard and all her brothers and sisters, Raymond and Claude Fleury, Marielle Fiset, Pauline Chapais, Estelle Fleury and Liliane (Lili) Fleury.
There will be no visitation. A Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2019, in St. Andrew’s Church, St. Andrews, at 11:00am with Reverend Andrew Gillies presiding. The burial will be in the South River Cemetery.
Family flowers only, please. In lieu of flowers, donations to the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home Foundation or St. Andrew’s Parish would be appreciated.
Online condolences: www.clcurry.com
