Arlette Agustina Zeeben

She was 82, and had been living with advanced Parkinson’s for many years. She stayed with us much longer than her prognosis, and for this, we are forever grateful.

Arlette Zeeben (nee Ange Torres) had a life like a movie script. Born in 1942, she was beautiful, came from a loving family and grew up in a big house in a historic neighborhood of Mexico City. She adored her French father and Mexican mother, Raymundo and Esther (aka Pepe and Meme), and her two big sisters, Yvonne and Esther. And they all adored her back.

Arlette embraced being a teenager in the 1950s — bobby socks, bouffant and The Beatles. She went abroad to study, graduating from a small college in South Berwick, Maine, as the 196os began. After graduation, she returned home and quickly found work with Pan Am airlines. Her world, like the world around her, was opening up as never before.

A young woman with a career, she found love accidently at a Mexico City Tigers baseball game. At a game on behest of her best friend, she caught the eye of a handsome ballplayer, an import from faraway Canada — or maybe he caught the eye of her. Either way, romance blossomed.

Arlette and William Peter Zeeben (1938-2014) married in Mexico and moved to Canada to start a family. Their sons, William and James, and their daughter Angie were the centre of their lives as they moved from Castlegar, B.C., to Ottawa, Ont., and, finally, into a new subdivision in Abbotsford, B.C.

Arlette’s passion for family, immediate and extended, was an immense gift to all who knew her. She raised children to see beyond their surroundings and appreciate all perspectives. Arlette kept her heritage alive, teaching Spanish and dance and offering guided tours that expanded the world for countless traveler’s. Through her work at Community Services, she took others new to Canada under her wing and helped them navigate the foreign customs of their new home.

As Arlette’s family grew, she found boundless joy in her granddaughters Adell and Maliya, her grandson Carter and her great-grandson Augustin.

Arlette was predeceased by her parents, Raymundo and Esther; her husband, William; and her daughter, Angie.

Arlette is survived by her sons Bill and Jim (Jennifer), her granddaughters Adell (Mateo) and Maliya, her grandson Carter, her great-grandson Augustine, her sisters Yvonne and Esther (Ernesto) and her many nieces and nephews.

A funeral will be held at St. Anne’s Catholic Church 33333 Mayfair Ave,Abbotsford, beginning at 11:00a.m. on May 12, 2025.