Claire Aline Picard

Picard, Claire (Marie Aline Claire Gervais) MD at The Courtyards on Eagleson in Ottawa June 5, 2019 at the age of 91. Claire is pre-deceased by her separated spouse (Antoine Kawam, 2009), survived by her sons Francis (Colleen) and Michael (Suneeta) and cherished by her grandchildren Natasha, Kaitlin, Andrew , Ruby-Ann and several nieces and nephews living in Quebec. Born in rural St. Theodore d’Acton, Quebec, she returned to Ottawa to settle after living in Montreal, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Initially a teacher in a one-room school house, she then graduated from Montreal’s Hotel Dieu and worked as a nurse with Hydro Quebec before pursuing medicine as one of the few women in her University of Ottawa graduating class (MD, 1962). She served as a psychiatrist for over 30 years in private practice, at Pierre-Janet Hospital in Gatineau and at Ottawa’s Carleton University. Claire was patron and volunteer for the National Arts Centre and the National Gallery of Canada. Always a proud French Canadian she was a voracious reader who enjoyed travelling, classical music, Scrabble and gardening until starting to succumb to Alzheimer’s in the early 2000’s. Friends may pay their respects at McEvoy-Shields Funeral Home, 1411 Hunt Club Road (at Albion), on Thursday June 13, from 12 pm to 2 pm. followed by a Funeral Service at 2 pm in the Chapel. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society or to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.