June 30/1947 – April 23/2024
It is with grief in our hearts but also with thankfulness for a life well lived that we announce the peaceful death of our mother, memere, sister, aunty, cousin and friend. She left behind many who loved her dearly, these included her sons Paul (Laurie), Marc (Carol) and grandchildren Joel (Linnea), Monique, Caitlyn, Bizzy and Camille. As well as siblings Gilbert, Louise, Cam (Marcia), Leonne (Bruce), Ben (Carol), Simone (Art), Marc(Coco)(Marlise) and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents Joe and Germaine Henry, her sister Evelyn Czuk and sister-in-law Linda Henry.
Jeannette was born and grew up in Lorette as the third of nine children. She was a multi-talented tomboy who loved being outdoors and taking on all kinds of different chores around the farm. She was known to be hardworking, starting when she was young, driving the Allis-Chalmers tractor to till neighbours gardens and various other jobs around town.
When she was 16, she moved to Winnipeg to work at Eaton’s department store that was the first of many different jobs. Over the years, she worked the assembly line at Bristol Myers, drove a forklift at ABD, was the office intake person at EMO in St. Adolphe after the 1997 flood of the century and did housekeeping at Tache Center.
At the age of 18 she married Marcel Labossiere and they had two boys together. When the boys were young, the family enjoyed camping and had a tent trailer which took them to many different places, including the favorites Birdshill and West Hawk Lake. She was the original hockey mom and faithfully got her boys to practices and games on time. After her divorce she focused on providing for her boys, she put her back into it and got the job done. She grew to be a strong, independent woman, her courage and determination to overcome challenges is admirable and inspiring.
She met the love of her life Merv Schmidt in the mid 1980’s and they had a lot of fun going to dances and playing baseball. She got a seasonal trailer at Falcon Lake and it became a second home where they enjoyed boating, water skiing and bonfires at the campsite. After the death of Merv in 1988 she sold the trailer and bought a cabin at Falcon Lake’s south shore. Over the years this has been a place for family and friends to gather and enjoy some beach time, have a bonfire, play various yard games or stay in and relax over a game of scrabble or rummikub. She spent many happy hours sitting in the screen porch just watching the moon and shooting the breeze with her kids and grandkids.
She was an awesome Memere who loved to make the little ones laugh and always had time to play any kind of game. Inside it was card games, outside playing hillbilly golf or bocce. She loved a good laugh and got a real kick out of watching Mrs. Brown’s Boys or AFV’s funny pet videos with them and would belly laugh at the silly antics. Over the years she filled our tummies with some delicious treats; homemade perogies, tortiere, apple pies and cherry cheesecake were always favorites!
For a few years after she retired she enjoyed woodworking and made leprechauns, worms, puppy dogs and more to decorate the yards of many lucky people. Garage-saleing was another hobby and she enjoyed finding a bargain anywhere (especially Giant Tiger or Canadian Tire). All her life she loved animals of all kinds, starting with a pet goat and ducks on the farm, then later she had dogs and cats (always named Mimine).
The last few years were very challenging for her when she was diagnosed with dementia and then had to adjust her independent lifestyle to include the reality of living with home oxygen. It was something very hard to get used to and she needed to move to supportive housing at the Villa Youville in Ste. Anne. During the 2 years that she lived there she made many friends and had a lot of fun doing the different activities. She kept the staff on their toes chasing after her with the portable oxygen machine. We sincerely wish to thank the staff at Villa Youville in Ste. Anne for their dedication, compassion and especially patience! Through it all she never lost faith and was certain that one day she would get her driver’s license and move back to her home in Lorette.
Thank you to Dr Fontigny and Dr. Mink for going above and beyond in their many years of service, she couldn’t have had a better health care team. Also, thank you to Dr. DeMoissac and the staff at Ste. Anne Hospital for their kindness and compassion.
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. To everyone whose heart was touched by Jeannette, may she live forever in your beautiful memories. Fly free without that hose tying you down, until we meet again, bye for now.
One of her favorite things in life was getting together with family and friends to share a visit and a meal, listen to the guitar and sing by the bonfire. So in order to help celebrate the life of this amazing woman please join with the family at a BBQ/bonfire on Saturday May 4th at 5:00 24173 River Road, Lorette. Please bring your own lawn chair and BYOB.
In lieu of flowers donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Winnipeg Humane Society.
Family and friends are invited to share memories and condolences on Jeannette’s memorial page using the comment field below.
