Pauline Rosalie Campbell

Pauline died peacefully after a long battle with Alzheimer’s on May 14, 2025 at the age 86. Her decline began half a decade ago, so for those she has left behind, we have slowly lost the woman we knew and loved. She will be remembered in many ways: a wife, a mother, une soeur, an aunt, a grandmother, a bilingual court reporter, an astute bridge player, a good cook, a cottager who loved to ‘clean-up’ with a nice bonfire, a family’s foundation, and as her loving husband John always says, one of the smartest women he has ever met.

Pauline was born on October 23, 1938, in Kapuskasing, Ontario to Béatrice (Desjardins) and Paul Guillaume. Kapuskasing was a multicultural town where French and English easily mingled with other languages. She grew up with her sisters Louise and Suzanne and her brother Denis. She attended French public school and then English high school, where she was always the top of her class. She remained ‘une fille du nord’ from Kapuskasing all her life.

She went to teacher’s college in Ottawa before returning to Kapuskasing to teach grade 7 and 8 for a few years. She then met John Hugh Campbell, a Brampton man who had just been hired at the Spruce Falls paper mill in town. They got engaged. Her future husband’s parents, farmers from a southern Ontario Baptist family, initially frowned at their son marrying a Catholic girl. But they were soon charmed by her cheerful, open and engaging ways. Pauline married John in 1961 in Kapuskasing and set off on their honeymoon towards Gaspé in a 1957 Chevrolet that seemed to breakdown every few hundred miles.

She gave birth to Michael in 1962, followed by Daniel in 1963. John found better work at the E.B. Eddy paper mill in Ottawa-Hull so the family moved south. Robert joined the family in 1966. They bought a house in a new subdivision on Illinois Avenue in southeast Ottawa, where many young families also bought homes. She sometimes needed her space and would send the boys out to play, whether it was +30 or -30 oC. A flock of kids would descend on her home where she would offer Kool-Aid or hot chocolate and cookies to all. She gave birth to Christiane in 1975 and was thankful to have a daughter at last.

She returned to school part-time at the University of Ottawa and over the next few years earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics. As Christiane and the boys were growing up, she started working as a French English court interpreter and later as a court reporter. Her work led her to many trips to Baffin Island and even to Paris for an important case on the Champagne wine region trademark.

Pauline also bought land on Lac Cuillèrier near Notre-Dame-du-Laus, a couple of hours north of Ottawa. Pauline, John and the family would go up for weekends or holidays, and they slowly built a cottage. It became a place for the extended family to visit and enjoy. Many adventures were had. The lake is part of a reservoir and much floating wood washed ashore each year. With this wood, Pauline had great pleasure starting and stocking bonfires for all.

Pauline had a keen intellect. She also had the gift of engaging any stranger in a long conversation. At a grocery store or the gas station or a restaurant, she would start up conversations with anyone and asked and listened with genuine interest. After five minutes, she would have a stranger’s life story, and they would leave as newfound friends. This is a rare gift.

Her family was most important to her. She welcomed spouses Bernice, Mery, Erika and Michael and her grandchildren Philip, Paula, Mauricio, Eleanor, Santiago, Fiorella, Simon and Audrey. Her grandchildren can remember her home cooking, her kindness and her generosity. She also leaves her sisters Louise in Kapuskasing, Suzanne in Ottawa and was predeceased by her brother Denis from Las Vegas.

She began to suffer from dementia a couple of years prior to the pandemic. This indiscriminate disease slowly took hold and robbed her of her sharpness and her conversation skills. John took care of her for many years, but she spent the last two years of her life at the Carlingwood Retirement Community’s memory wing and finally at the Peter D. Clark long-term care facility. Her family wishes to acknowledge the wonderful care she received.

A visitation will be held on Saturday June 28th at 1:30pm at McEvoy-Shields Funeral Home, 1411 Hunt Club Road. A Celebration of Life will take place in the Chapel at 2:30pm, followed by a reception.

For those who wish, in lieu of flowers, the family encourages a gift to either the Peter D. Clark centre by writing a cheque to ‘City of Ottawa – Peter D. Clark’ with ‘Donor’s Trust’ noted in the memo section, or a gift to the Dementia Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County. (https://dementiahelp.ca/ways-to-give/ways-to-donate/donate-today/)