Lorraine LaViolette
Wife, mother, faithful friend, traveller. Born Sept. 22, 1931, in Quebec City. Died April 18, 2011, in Gatineau, Que., of complications from gastroenteritis, aged 79.
When her children asked to see the photograph for the umpteenth time, Lorraine LaViolette never failed to produce it. Published in 1952 in a local newspaper, the photo showed 21-year-old Lorraine crouching next to a black bear she and friends had been forced to kill during a fishing trip.
To her children, this story seemed like a fantastic tale. It certainly was an effective visual: If you want your children to listen to their mother, show them how she took down a fierce predatory animal. While Lorraine appeared to conform to the expectations of society, she was a woman who was not constrained by her times.
Born to Arthur and Lédéanne Caron, Lorraine grew up during the Depression in a family of 10 children in Quebec City. Starting at a young age, she and her sisters studied at a boarding school in Lamèque, N.B. It must have been a daunting trek for young girls to make every school year, involving a long train ride and ferry crossing to reach an island at the tip of the Acadian peninsula.
But it was during those trips that Lorraine developed a lifelong love of travel. As a young woman in the 1950s, she visited New York, Acapulco, Mexico City and Bermuda. In her early married life, she lived in West Germany and travelled the European continent.
The boarding school provided Lorraine with a quality education and the opportunity to learn English. She later encouraged her children's education. She ensured they spoke French and English by speaking in stereo to them, repeating everything, for many years, in both official languages.
Lorraine landed her first job at Bell Canada in 1947 as a mail clerk. She thrived in the workplace, and in the 10 years she spent at Bell she was promoted to positions with increasing responsibilities.
She replaced work with family in 1957 when she married Norbert LaViolette, a handsome engineer from Nash Creek, N.B., who was stationed in Quebec City with the armed forces. Their devoted marriage produced four daughters, Christine, Denise, Nicole and Monique, and two sons, Pierre and Marc, followed by seven grandchildren.
Lorraine was an intelligent, civic-minded woman. She volunteered on the school board, in scouting organizations and on a few political campaigns. She was incredibly generous and hospitable. When Quebec City hosted an international Francophonie festival in 1974, she befriended several African athletes, inviting them home, offering them food and refreshments and later giving them a tour of the city.
Lorraine lived a life rich in adventures for almost 80 years, building all the while a loving network of family and friends.
Nicole LaViolette is Lorraine's daughter.