Catherine "Kay" (Arseneau) Henry

Age 90, of Dalhousie, NB, passed away peacefully at home after a lengthy illness on November 25, 2018, surrounded by her loving family.

Catherine was born on May 9th, 1928 in Glencoe, NB, the second youngest child of Louis and Elizabeth (nee Murray) Arseneau. She was the last survivor of a family of 9 siblings.

She graduated from the Sacred Heart Academy in Dalhousie in 1946 with a Diploma in Commercial Studies. To the amazement of many, she could recite the alphabet backwards her whole life.

She worked briefly as a teacher in a one room school house in Glencoe, a book keeper at Woolworths, and then as a Floor Manager/Admin and Pharmacist Assistant at Henderson's Drug Store in Campbellton for the next eight years. This is when she met the love of her life, Cletus. They were married after three years of courtship at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Campbellton on May 20, 1957 and moved to Princess Street in Dalhousie where Joan and Donna were born. With a third baby on the way they moved to King Street to a much larger, new home where Colleen, Leah and Shawn expanded the growing family. As was the custom in the 50's, Catherine stopped working upon the birth of her first child and was a "stay at home mom" to her grateful, growing family.

She was a landlady for 43 years after purchasing a triplex which allowed her to remain at home to be with her family. She and Cletus owned and operated Sanfar Motor Court, a summer resort in Tide Head, for 10 years from 1969-79. They also ran the Redwood Bed and Breakfast in their home for eight years after Cletus retired in 1990. She was a successful entrepreneur and a trail blazer.

Catherine was a very spiritual person with a strong faith and belief in a loving God and devoted to her church. She will be remembered as a life-long member of the CWL (Catholic Women's League of Canada). As a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Campbellton, she donated a chalice to Fr. Hickey who was the first parish priest. For many years, she convened the CWL spiritual committee at St. John Bosco Roman Catholic Church where she worshiped every Sunday. She also served as a Eucharistic Minister for 12 years.

Throughout her long life her volunteer work in the community included: teaching Catechetics, serving Holy Communion to the patients at the St. Joseph's Hospital and the residents of the Michaud Nursing Home. She ministered to the hospital patients and inmates at the prison in Dalhousie. These community activities brought her much joy. She received recognition for her charitable work and volunteerism.

As her children went away to college and university and the home had spare bedrooms she and Cletus fostered one child for 4 years.

She was also excellent at checkers and often would win against Cletus and the kids. Blindsiding her opponents, they were no match for her surprise moves on the checker board as her competitive side shone through. She had lots of kings going in every direction! She also enjoyed a lively game of Auction 45 with family and friends into the wee hours of the morning.

She and Cletus took many classes in ball room dancing over the years and enjoyed country music and folk songs. Her favourite singers were Anne Murray, Joan Baez and John Denver.

They also experienced many wonderful trips to: Florida, Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax and toured Western Canada twice. When a grandchild was born she and Cletus always went to help with the newborns and get acquainted with the newest member of their growing family. When the grandchildren graduated she and Cletus always attended the ceremony. Education was very important to her.

She was so proud of all of her beautiful grandchildren. She never forgot a birthday and a card was carefully chosen and was always sent along with a cheque including a personal note to "Buy a special gift of your choice". Who doesn't like birthday money?

She was a loving and caring person. Everyone felt very welcome in her home and she certainly enjoyed entertaining family and friends especially during the holidays. Christmas was always a very special time and she made it memorable with her delicious homemade tourtière pie (her mother's recipe) and shortbread scotch cookies served following midnight mass. She believed in traditions and would allow the children to open only one gift on Christmas Eve no matter how much they begged to open more. Her home was always beautifully decorated for the holidays. She will be fondly remembered for her excellent cooking and baking skills. She made the most delicious homemade bread and tea biscuits for her family to enjoy.

She is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 61 years, Cletus and by her children: Joan (David) Dobbie, Halifax; Donna (Robert) Stark, Ottawa; Colleen (Daniel) Harquail, Dalhousie; Leah (Steven) Leu, Ottawa and Shawn (Tina Cook), Whitby. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren: Jessica, Ashley, Alicia (Jeff) Lanteigne, Elizabeth, Matthew, Erika, Jonathan, Caitlin, Christopher and Lauren, as well as a step-grandson Samuel "Sam"; and sister-in-law Dorothy Chiasson of St. Catharines. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews. She will be greatly missed by her family and all who knew and loved her. She was predeceased by three sisters, Reta Berthelot, Eva McNaughton and Isabel Arseneau and five brothers, Francis, Lawrence, Murray, Alfred and Charles. She was also predeceased by brother-in-law, L.G. "Doc" Berthelot, and sisters-in-law, Kay Arseneau, Lila Pitt, Geraldine "Jerry" Mahoney and Margaret Boudreau.

The family would like to especially thank Dr. Vona MacMillan for the many house calls and the wonderful caregivers from Mallais Home Care for their kind and gentle care over the past three years: Sophie, Marsha, Odette, Erika, Crystal, Keisha and Brianna. As well as the care from many compassionate nurses and physiotherapists from the Extramural Hospital who made it possible for her to take her final journey at home with her family at her side.

A catholic funeral mass to celebrate her life will take place from the St. John Bosco Church, 470 Victoria Street, Dalhousie at 11am on November 29th. Visitation will take place at Maher's Funeral Home, 421 Victoria St., Dalhousie on November 28th from 2-4pm and again from 7-9pm, and on Thursday from 9:30am until the time of the funeral. A private family interment will take place at the St. Anthony Church Cemetery in Glen Levit at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or Parkinson’s Society or a charity of your choice.

Funeral arrangements are in the care of Maher's Funeral Home, Dalhousie, NB.

(506)789-1699 or toll free (855) 404-1699 email: [email protected]