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OBIT ~ Irene Pruneau 1920-2010
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Irene Yvonne Pruneau, known to many of us as Maman, Memere or Mom was born on May 2, 1920 in St. Prosper, Quebec.
She was the fifth child in a family of sixteen born to Armosa and Thomas Pruneau.
I can’t tell you for sure what kind of childhood she had but it must have been like that of many of that generation.
She probably had many responsibilities especially with 11 younger brothers and sisters.
When Mom talked about her years as a child it always brought a smile to her face and a lilt to her voice.
In July 1942 Mom married our dad, Amedee Fortier.
In 1950, with six children and a small amount of furniture Mom and Dad moved from Quebec to Donnelly.
I remember Mom telling me that she liked her house there.
What she didn’t tell me and I can well imagine is that it was a huge move and probably quite frightening to leave her parents and siblings and to not know when and if she was going to see them again.
When I spoke to her older sister a few years ago she told me that she and her family thought
Mom was very brave to agree to this move. Mom and Dad had moved to Alberta so that they might be able to farm enough land to make a living at it, which wasn’t a possibility in Quebec.
In 1951, they filed a homestead claim on a half section of land south of the Little Smoky River. Dad built Mom a house on that homestead and the whole family moved into it in 1958.
On New Year’s Eve 1965 that same house burned to the ground while we were all away at our Uncle Josephat’s ringing in the New Year.
Mom being practical and not prone to “losing it” said she was sad about the things she lost that she couldn’t replace like her photos and her wedding ring but she was so happy that all her children were safe and sound.
My dad quickly converted his new garage into a house and Mom got busy making it a home.
Mom often spoke of how thankful she was to the neighbors and community for coming together in providing for us in that time of need.
All her life if there was a family who lost their home in a fire she was sure to donate one or two of her crocheted afghans.
In 1967, we moved into our new house on the same farm and there Mom and Dad stayed until 1979 when they retired to Valleyview.
Irene Fortier leaves to mourn eleven children, 28 grandchildren and 28 great-grand children.
Denise (Roland Giroux), Jean (Judy Cotton), Guy (Rhonda Cooper), Fernande (Maurice Giroux), Jocelyne (Robert Schoenberger), Suzanne (Doug Arkel), Claude (Maggie Ouellette), Ron, Jeanne (Don Lemko), Marie (Wes Bradley), Michel (Judy Willier).
Irene was pre-deceased by her husband, Amedee, and her son-in- law, Roland Giroux.
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