After a battle with debilitating illness, Laverne Corinne Duguay Toews age 72, devoted wife, mother, grandmother and sister died at her home in Winnipeg on March 21 2024, surrounded by her family. She left behind many who loved her dearly, these included her lifelong husband Chris, her son Josh and his wife Dallas, their children Jake and Lucas, her daughter Cori and her husband Tyler and their children Hannah, Xavier, Isaiah, Harlan, and Rowan. Sisters Elaine, Donna and Darlene, brothers Lyle and Danny, sister in law Jeanette Pearl, brothers in law Griz, Dave, Clint and Lawrence and many friends and neighbours.
It’s with great sadness that the family share the news of her passing. Her gentle kindness and unselfish caring and loving presence will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
Laverne was born to parents Julia and Aimee Duguay in St Anne Manitoba where she lived for 18 years, attended school and graduated in 1969.
In 1969 while working at a summer job at Lake Rivera beachside concession she met the love of her life Chris Toews. They got married on April 25, 1970 and settled in Winnipeg. Laverne loved to enjoy her summers riding in Chris’ 1967 Ford Galaxy convertible out to the Whiteshell and countless other short jaunts. Those memories will be relived many times over.
Laverne was a natural at mothering not only for her own children and grandchildren but for some that were welcomed by them into their home over 40 years of marriage. She unselfishly reached out to support and nurture her family and was a rock of emotional strength when life became difficult. She loved for her grandchildren to stay overnight and raid her kitchen and fridge. She often had lunches, hot and ready, waiting for the kids to come home to her place at lunch during school hours.
Laverne loved her beautiful flower garden, which she designed herself with many varieties of perennials and annuals. It was a gorgeous curbside feature, which welcomed people to her home. She also loved animals which included cats and dogs over the years. She loved her current dog Ramie and beautiful large cat Dolly. Somewhat surprisingly her favourite animal was the elephant, which, of course was not pet appropriate, but she had many representative elephant objects around the house.
Laverne was a person of sincere and personal faith. Although she did not attend many religious functions, she made a habit of prayer and her life and relationships reflect the beauty of her spirit and the love she shared with those around her.
Laverne was both witty and sharp. Her accomplished ability to organize contributed to her becoming a valued employee at Great West Life, and moving on into team management in the banking capacity at Assiniboine credit union. In 1981 she assumed the additional responsibilities of running the office for the family’s property management business, which she was still doing at the time of her passing. During her declining health over the last year, her granddaughter Hannah (20) who lived with her was an attentive caregiver to her. Amma, cleaning and bringing her food would always encourage her and kept her company. It was a great gift to Laverne. Her daughter Cori, who in addition to caring for her own family of 7, spent as much time supporting her mom as she could.
Her son Josh, who lives quite far from Winnipeg, would contact his mother daily, and whenever he was in the city, he would always stop by to see his mom. He was also very supportive in his own way to his mother.
Even in times of personal suffering, she would focus on the needs of others rather than her own. Her memory will never fade, and our lives will be less without her to grace our days. We look forward to our reunion with her in years to come.
We love you to the moon and back.
A celebration of life will be held for Laverne in August.
Family and friends are invited to share memories and condolences on Laverne’s memorial page using the comment field below.
So sorry to hear about Laverne.
Deepest condolences to Chris and family. Have a lot of fond memories of years gone by.
From Ken & Tanya our thoughts and prayers are with you
Auntie Laverne was a sweet, sweet soul. There are people you met in life who you just know have a beautiful soul and a warm love that knows no boundaries… she was one of those rare spirits. Always a hug, kiss and calling me “sweetheart”, even though I wouldn’t see her often. She always was curious about my family and never missed a christmas card. Her love for those important to her was unparalleled. Fly free, Auntie xoxo
I’m so very sorry for your family’s loss of Laverne . We worked together as co – managers at Addition – Elle at St. Vital Mall years ago .
She was a wonderful person with a huge heart and the team loved her . I have memories of her always talking about her kids and then granddaughter Hannah arrived who she was so very proud of and in love with her .
Laverne was beautiful inside and out . Heaven has gained a wonderful angel .
Rest in peace Laverne ❤️
Laverne was such a kind, loving soul! A hug was not enough….she always planted a sweet kiss on the cheek. Clint and I spent most Sunday mornings with Chris and Laverne having coffee in our River Suite enjoying the view and sharing our lives. I had the privilege of planting her flowers with her last spring because it was getting to be too difficult for her. You are missed already Laverne. We will now hold memories of you dear in our hearts! 💕
Laverne was a kind, loving and generous person always taking time for whoever sh could help. I can honestly say In 40 years I never heard her say a mean thing about anyone. She put other people’s need before her own. She was deeply loved and will be greatly missed Clint
Auntie Laverne had a huge heart, caring for the ‘little ones’ of all types (I guess the elephants are an exception!). In my younger years knowing her as a nephew she was so consistently warm, gentle and kind to me, ready with a big hug and kiss and ‘how are you’. In later years her FB posts and shares consistently reminded me of her concern for others in pain, always participating in calls for compassion and expressions of gratitude, often from the spiritual side of things, reminders of things unexplained. I was lucky to visit her and Uncle Chris at times when visiting Clint and Pearl in our backyard River Suite and sadly saw and listened at a distance when the times got more difficult in later days. I will remember her essence as a pure-hearted, gentle and consistent soul. Much love to Uncle Chris, Cori, Josh and all the ‘little ones’ and family members. Donovan
We’ve all lost someone special and it’s hard to put into words what this means to all of us so I will share my memories. I can recall when I was young, Laverne and Elaine, took us kids to the home on Boston and from there we went to the pool at the top of the street in their convertible. I remember the feeling of fun and appreciation like “what kid has it this good”. I also remember being introduce to miracle whip and ketchup on hotdogs….. this was life changing and so so good.
As we grew up, and started having families of our own, we continued to see each other at family get togethers. Laverne was always loving, kind and always genuinely interested in what we were doing. What I recall the most about auntie Laverne was her love and strength she had for her family. I’m so thankful that I can call her my auntie, and for the love and compassion she showed us all. To you Laverne, thank you for being you and for loving us.
Dave and I would sometimes go on long walks in the summertime and usually end up going past Laverne’s place . There she would be sitting outside on her deck having a cup of coffee and admiring her beautiful garden . She would wave to us to come join her and was always warm and welcoming
When we walk by this summer we’ll wave as we go by with secret tears and I know she’ll be warmly waving and smiling back .
Rest in Peace Laverne . Love you and miss you so much.
Chris, Josh, Cori and family
Memories … we all have our special memories of Laverne
Chris, you were her rock, Josh and Cori you were her life.
The grand kids were her joy. Laverne was always thinking of others and had so much love for her family, she shared that love with her kids friends.
Laverne loved gardening and was so proud of her amazing
front yard garden. She was always happy to show it to you when you visited.
I’ll never see an elephant and not think of Laverne.
Memories are what we have and there are so many of them.
Rest in Peace, love you Donna and Griz.
My dear Mama. I can’t believe I’m writing on here to you. My heart is heavy. My tears have run dry and my soul is so saddened with sorrow of not having you here anymore. All I want is to hear you, hold you, kiss you , smell you and call you and tell you about my day and ask you how yours was. I thank god every day for the all the time I got to spend with you before you left us. I have no regrets as I know you could feel every day how much we all loved you and wanted you to happy and healthy. You are my best friend. You are the best mother I could have ever needed and wanted. I love you now forever and always my, to the moon and back and to infinity and beyond. Rest in peace my beautiful mama bear. ❤️