Yvette Theriault

On the evening of November 22 God called on “Yvette” Marie Germaine Tremblay Theriault at the tender age of 94 to join her beloved husband, Edmond Theriault and many other predeceased family members and friends in heaven.

She will be missed by many surviving family members and friends, especially Michael (Florence), Helen (Alfonso), Bobby (Sylvie), Nathan, Ryan, Brian, Helene (Jean), Francine (Serge), Irene, Tammy, Jason, Joshua, Jacob, Diane, Rick, Kevin and the Haak family.

Amongst us walks many “Earth Angels” who selflessly give of their time, friendship and love; to these special Earth-Angels, like Amoy Toyloy and the Delmanor Wynford staff, and our family expresses a warm-hearted “Thank You”. Yvette was a compassionate, fun-loving woman with a determined spirit and a great sense of humour.

Yvette was born February 2, 1927. When she was a very young girl, her parents shared a house with Granny and Grandpa and the ‘younger lot’ of our grandparents brood of 12, as many large French Canadian families did during the depression era. Eventually, Yvette was deemed old enough to sleep upstairs with her aunts in the ‘big girls’ room, who included her best friend and Aunt Therese (who was only 4-years older than Yvette); after that there was no holding Yvette’s independent spirit back!

When Yvette moved to Toronto at the tender age of 16, she joined Therese who previously moved to Toronto. They lived with Aunt Almoza and Uncle Rene. Upon receiving her first pay cheque, Rene walked her to the bank to open a saving’s account and he proceeded to tell her to deposit money each week, and to always ‘save your money’. This wise advice led to Yvette always being financially savvy, a good thing since she was also quite the shopper! Why buy one when three will do? It also came in handy during her marriage as she handled the finances, and Ed was so surprised when after a year of saving and using the transit system she asked him “would you like to buy a car?” and he asked if they could afford it; to which she replied “yes”.

Yvette, whose first language was French, learned to speak English from her cousin Johnny. He used to sit with Yvette with a comic book teaching Yvette how to pronounce the words in English. She perfected her English while working at the Jimmy Simpson Knitting Mill factory located at Berkeley and The Esplanade (now known as Berkely Castle). It was while working at the Mill that Yvette met the love of her life.

Edmond and Yvette’s love story began on a blind date in April 1949 at the Joseph Simpson factory dance. His best friend, Leon and Leon’s sister Bernice set it up; Yvette was good friends with Bernice at the time. Bernice insisted that Yvette go on the blind date. Yvette didn’t really feel like going, but her Aunt Almoza insisted she go out and enjoy herself. December 1949 Edmond and Yvette were engaged. August 8, 1950 they were married at Sacré-Cœur Church. While they may not have been blessed with children of their own, they had many children in their close cousins like Michael, Helen and Brian, nieces like Tammy and grandchildren like Bobby, Jason, Josh and Jacob and now great grandchildren in Nathan and Ryan. Their extended family also included special friends, like the Haak family, Lydia, Horst, Patrick, Sylvia and Nikkola, Petra, Ron, Kurt and Karl.

Edmond and Yvette certainly filled their 71 years together with many special family occasions and celebrations – Christmases at Therese’s, New Year’s at their house, birthdays, Easters, Thanksgivings, family BBQs, many weddings and special anniversaries. It was not uncommon to have family gatherings of 20-30 people at a time, and sometimes more; in fact, at Yvette & Ed’s 50th Wedding Anniversary party there were close to 100, and catered by all family members in St. Paul’s Basilica church basement!

Yvette loved to laugh and enjoy the company of her family and friends. She continued to build on this lifelong tradition of large gatherings with lots of shared stories and cups of tea (and the occasional white wine spritzer). For her 90th birthday, family members surprised Yvette with a birthday party complete with food, drink and all the trimmings. She was never without a large group of people who enjoyed showing her how much she was loved.

At Delmanor she befriended Barb and June, her neighbour across the hallway, with whom she shared glass, or two, of wine. When they were allowed to return to full table-seating at Delmanor, they became dining mates for lunch and dinner, and they were known as the laughter table as they were always joking around and laughing.

Anyone that knew Yvette knew that she loved to be fashionable, in fact every outfit needed a scarf, broach or other accessories. These little creative flairs went along with her perfectly styled hair. Yvette was from the era that once a week the women would meet at the hairdresser’s salon to have their hair done. Trish was Yvette’s hairdresser and dear friend for close to 50 years. After retirement, Yvette was often known to frequent the salon for something to do, stopping by to help Trish. She visited so often that other customers thought she was an employee and nicknamed her “The French Lady”! Yvette didn’t work there of course, she had been an employee of the Federal Government of Canada for over 35 years; retiring from the bilingual enquiries line for Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security.

Aside from being a hardworking, fun-loving lady, Yvette was also very creative and artistic. You could often find her knitting, crocheting, painting, crafting, rug hooking or doing puzzles. She loved working on puzzles and there were often times when family had to carefully move her latest challenge, sorted and in progress on a big wooden board, away from the dining room table in order to enjoy one of those big gatherings she loved so much.

Yvette decorated her home with as many lovely touches as she gave her outfits. Everywhere you looked there was a creative surprise nestled in something ordinary looking; butterflies hidden in houseplants or appliques sewn onto a tea towel.

Yvette was a woman who didn’t hesitate to speak her mind but she did so from a loving heart. She was quick to offer help or support to anyone in need and was a good listener to those who stopped by for a cup of tea and a cookie or two. The family appreciates all of the help and support of her close friends, Almoy Toyloy and the many caregivers that rallied around to assist Yvette in her time of need. The generosity of these family, friends and services was, and still is, greatly appreciated.

In closing, Yvette was the sort of woman that made the world a fancier fun-loving place. She added style and flair to the lives of those who knew her and painted our lives liberally with kindness and care. If you knew Yvette, you knew love.

A visitation for Yvette will be held Monday, November 29, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Rosar-Morrison Funeral Home & Chapel, 467 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, ON M4X1K5, followed by a funeral service at 11:00 AM.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.rosar-morrison.com for the Theriault family.