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.