Marissa Christine St. Amand

Marissa Christine St. Amand passed away last week at the age of 23, after a heroic battle with cancer. Marissa was predeceased by grandfather Raymond St. Amand, uncle Mark St. Amand and her best friend Claire Mueller. She will be dearly missed by her parents Camille and Murray and her brother Xavier, her grandparents Claire and Anne Middleton and Beatrice St. Amand, aunts Heather (Rob) Middleton and Brita (Dan) Middleton, Michèle (Roland) Larivière, uncles Mike (Hélène) St. Amand, Maurice (Denise) St. Amand, Matthew St. Amand, cousins Leo Zammit, Jake Zammit, Dominic (Kalir) St. Amand, Gabrielle (Matthew) St. Amand, Sequoya St. Amand, Cole St. Amand, Alexandre St. Amand, Danielle Norton, Sarah Norton, Ava Geisbauer, Kate Geisbauer, Ryan Rowland, Rhiannon (Mike) Rowland, Reece (Shaina) Rowland. Marissa will be lovingly remembered by many dear friends, including Marie Hardouin (Montréal), Zachary Robichaud (Ottawa), Ziyan Liu (Ottawa), Indiana Gaudet (Bellevue), Maxwell Mueller, Dominic Gauthier (Calgary), Gédéon Isezerano, Jesus Napoles (Ottawa), Camelia Skaf (Ottawa), Maclean, Reid, Camryn and Cassidy Moline (Calgary), Scott, Shannon and Monica Lich, Anna and Brennan Praski, Delaney and Parker Staite (Toronto), George and Joanne Mueller, Élodie Pastural and Pierre Hardouin (Montréal), Darcie and Mark Lich.

Marissa was born and raised in Saskatoon and attended École Canadienne-française from pre-school to grade 12. She was a “fière fransaskoise” who went on to attend the Université d’Ottawa; she was only one class short of her double degree in Sciences politiques et Communications when she was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in March, 2022. During her first year at U Ottawa, Marissa worked as a page in the House of Commons; she was proud to represent Saskatchewan even though her politics may not have matched those of her MP. This experience, along with her keen desire to help others and her strong sense of social justice led to involvement in student politics as well as advocacy for various minority groups. These roles were a natural fit for her as Marissa was always unfailingly kind and patient with family, friends and strangers.

Marissa loved music; she played both the piano and the oboe at ECF and had recently started learning the tenor saxophone. She also had dozens of playlists on her phone. Annual family visits to Cypress Hills and numerous canoe and camping trips in northern SK as well as visits to Gpa and Gma’s “Serendip” outside Prince Albert cemented her love of exploring nature. She enjoyed Irish dance throughout her school years and was always reading. Travel was high on her list of post-covid plans as we had enjoyed many family trips in Canada and Australia. Most of all, she loved art: painting, sketching, and lately embroidery. (Her recent artwork is on Instagram: art._ _.potato).

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday March 4, 2023 at St Philip Neri (1902 Munroe Avenue Saskatoon) followed by a lunch reception at École Canadienne-française PGD (2320 Louise St). In lieu of flowers/gifts, please consider a donation to the Royal University Hospital Foundation, OUT Saskatoon, or the AJF (Association Jeunesse Fransaskoise).

Arrangements entrusted to David Polzen