CECILE PALLARD

Cecile Marie Pallard nee Durand
1924 March 9 - 2020 January 3

Cecile 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 Genevieve Boucher, Colin Pallard; brothers: Leandre and Alain Durand; sisters-in-law: Therese Desorcy, 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: Therese Fouasse, Gertrude Simoens; brothers-in-law: Joseph and Emmanuel Pallard, Norman Fisher, Rennie Desorcy, Robert Fouasse, Jean Simoens; sisters-in-law: Louise Fisher, Helene Durand, Therese Pallard. She was the eldest child of Maxime Durand and Marie Josephe 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 Ecole Bilingue, Ecole Oceane, 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 Cecile 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 Cecile'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 Cecile living in Manitoba. To be honest, I have had to consult her remaining brothers, Leandre and Alain, and my family for information, as Cecile left MB when I was only 3 years old. I do however remember my Mom saying how Cecile and her sister Therese 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 Cecile 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 sejours chez nous. Elle me decrit Cecile : << joyeuse, agreable, et creative. Elle jouait avec nous, nous enseignant des nouveaux jeux. Elle savait ecouter en profondeur le partage de nos secrets de jeunes. >>
Cecile 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 Gerald and Odile remember that Cecile had to tackle heaps of mending when at our place and Odile has fond memories of the beautiful little dress Cecile made for her. Cecile also came to help when I was born. I guess I may have been a handful even back then!
Cecile 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 Cecile to be welcoming, understanding and helpful beyond description. I too, had a cute dress made for me by Cecile.
Everyone who walked thru the Pallard door was welcomed, fed and encouraged. We were driven around to discover Vancouver and the province. Cecile 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 Cecile 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. Cecile 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.
Cecile was discreet and accepting. She was forceful only when necessary. This is the Cecile 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 estomaquee de constater que tous les jeunes chez Cecile et Raymond s'adresse, ecrivent et nous texte en francais. Un attachement a leur langue maternelle fait preuve de grande patience et determination car ca n'a pas du etre facile d'elever des enfants parfaitement bilingues a Vancouver!
This is the Cecile 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.