Obituary of IRENE FLAMAND

In Loving Memory of

Our Beloved Mother Irene Flamand (nee LeClaire) left her earthly body on April 23, 2018 at the age of 82.

She was the daughter of Tony and Cecile LeClair of Camperville, Manitoba; Irene was born on February 26, 1936 and was Baptized on March 01, 1936 at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church.  Irene raised her four children on her own and was both Mother and Father to her three daughters and one son; Debbie Delaronde, Della Flamand, Lorna Flamand, Garry Flamand.  She was a Grandmother, Great-grandmother and Great-great-grandmother who will be Forever Loved and Missed by all the Family.

A proficient Education for her children was very important to her as she had to quit school in grade seven because work as a family was more important than school in her teen years; she worked in a bush camp peeling, and sawing trees with her father and brothers, families made camps to pick Blueberries to sell; she helped her father fish as he was a commercial fisherman; she worked mainly with her father and brothers.  Her last job in Camperville was working at the Residential School near the Pine Creek Reserve as a Cook, Cleaner and Seamstress to support her children.

Irene decided to move to Winnipeg around 1967 for a new start in life and education for her and the children.  She worked as a Social Worker Assistant for the city of Winnipeg; she was a hard worker and got very depressed when she could no longer work as she had one lung removed from complications of Pneumonia and was placed on disability; that didn’t stop her from going to day work through agencies. 

Irene/Mother suffered more than her share of physical and mental pain and is a Survivor of both.  She survived a deplorable, abusive marriage; she had Diabetes and developed a progressive diabetic wound on her left leg below her knee.  When she could no longer live independently and had to live in a nursing home by her doctor’s orders; I knew she had given up on life; especially when her leg was amputated above her knee.  Mother passed on from complications of Diabetes and Cancerous lesions that were found on her one Lung near the end of her death at Concordia Hospital surrounded by Family.

Our Mother was very Loving, Caring and Compassionate person; she loved to socialize and meet new friends/people; loved shopping; she could make a meal out of anything that we only had in stock; she loved baking especially for Christmas; we would call her to make our favorite meals, cakes and cookies.  She was an impeccable lady who wouldn’t go anywhere without fixing her hair or have clean ironed clothes which she instilled in all of us at very young ages.

This was our Mother’s favorite saying to her children; No matter where you Live or what you Wear; if you keep it Clean you will always look Good.

On behalf of our Family we would like to Thank Parkview Place Nursing Home for the compassion and excellent care by the nurses, health aids, therapists, and all the other staff they gave our Mother.

Our Family would also like to Thank Pastor Jim Poirier for his sympathy and consideration who officiated at our Mother’s Memorial.   

Our Family would like to extend our Appreciation to Cropo Funeral Chapel for their assistance with our Mother’s video presentation and especially the large exquisite reception area where all gathered after her Memorial Service.

Our Mother choose this Beautiful Poem for The Family

If I should ever leave you, whom I love,
To go along the Silent Way, grieve not,
Nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk
Of me as if I were beside you there.

(I’d come – I’d come, could I but find a way!)
But would not tears and grief be barriers?

And when you hear a song or see a bird I loved, 
Please do not let the thought of me be sad.
For I am loving you just as I always have…
You were so good to me!

There are so many things I wanted still to do,
So many things to say to you…
Remember that I did not fear…
It was just leaving you that was so hard to face…

We cannot see Beyond…
But this I know:
I loved you so, t’was heaven here with you!