Obituaries

Our beloved mother, Géraldine Marie Trottier (Gallant), of Dartmouth NS, passed away peacefully, at age 85, at the Dartmouth General Hospital on September 14, 2019. She will be remembered for her lively spirit and her lifelong dedication to family and friends.

As a young woman, mom ventured from her small hometown in rural New Brunswick to Montreal where she met her future husband, Placide.

Then, as a military family, we travelled the breadth of this country, moving every couple of years.

From Montreal, we travelled to Goose Bay to pick up Richard. After swinging through Montreal once again, we were off to Ottawa to collect Claudette. We had to go to Germany to find Marc. There we explored as much of Europe as we could before returning to our own amazing race Canada, and the frigid northern climate of Cold Lake. Then back to Montreal (of course), Greenwood, and then St. Bruno for one last glimpse of .. Montreal. We finally ended our journey here, settling down in Dartmouth.

Each time, however short, mom made every place a welcoming home, where we attended new schools, made new friends, experienced new activities, and camped in great, hard to spell places like Mont Orford, Kejimkujik, and Kouchibouguac.

During all this time she was an avid and competitive bowler. She enjoyed skating, golfing, curling, and playing cards. She loved to paint, and cultivated beautiful gardens. And she opened her home to many cats and dogs (especially Jazz, Myah, and Barkley), and a budgie, a turtle, a chicken, and a couple ill fated school mice.

She was also an accomplished seamstress who did home sewing for Suttles and Seawinds. She excelled at everything she did, approaching life with a mixture of determination and humour that will be sorely missed by her friends and family.

Her children (us), and her grandchildren, became better people because of her humour, her patience, her thoughtfulness, her caring and compassion, and her cakes and pies and other amazing pastries.

Our house was often where our friends hung out, and for good reason.

Like our father, our mother will be dearly missed, but we retain with us great memories of everything she did for us, in every place we lived, with every adventure we encountered, and with everything we learned along the way. As with our dad, we are her legacy.

To our mom. As you have taken care of us from the start of our young and impressionable lives, it has been our honour to take care of you in return, at your graceful journey's end. Be at peace, along with dad. You have earned it in every way.

Our mom, Géraldine, is survived by her sisters Jeannine and Réjeanne, her sons Richard (Peggy) and Marc (Krista), daughter Claudette (Kory), daughter in law Lisa, and her grandsons Craysyn (Mairi), Corwin (Stephanie), and Clarke. She is also predeceased by her siblings Teddy, Freddy, Roger, O'Niel, and Lina; and her parents Laurent and Exilda.

The family would like to extend thanks to all who helped care for her in the last months of her life at 9 Lane, Lewis Hall, and 4 West. Donations may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.