Marie Lucille Scanlon
She was a mom figure to many, and an inspiration to many more.
Lucille passed away peacefully on Wednesday May 19, 2021 while at The Bridge Hospice in Warkworth, Ontario.
She was much loved by her husband of almost 60 years, Mark Scanlon, plus her children Suzanne, Mark (Janice), Patricia (Ricardo), and John as well as her grandchildren Shannon (Cameron), Alanna (Tyler), Hillary, Emma (Nathan), Daniel, Natalia, and Zavier plus her great-granddaughter Lila. She leaves behind her grieving brother Jean Guimond (Brad) and sister Anne Griffin, brother-in-law Paul Scanlon (Marit), sister-in-law Margaret Sare (Joseph), and many beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. She was predeceased by her parents Gladys Alice Powers and Francois-Xavier Guimond along with her aunt, Cecilia Powers.
Lucille was born in Baie-Comeau, Quebec and raised in Gatineau and Temaskaming. As a young girl, she was personally scouted by Celia Franca, the founder of the National Ballet of Canada, and invited to join her ballet school. She also enjoyed figure skating, curling, cheerleading, and playing the piano, and competed at the national level in square dancing. She went on to Queen’s University to complete a degree in math and physics, at a time when this was most unusual for women, and then taught math, initially at East Northumberland District High School in Brighton and later at Kenner Collegiate Institute in Peterborough.
She met Mark, her future husband, on the front steps of Holy Angels Church, thanks to an introduction by Edna and Eric Faulkner shortly after she moved to Brighton.
Lucille became well-known in Brighton for her compassion, her positive outlook, and her organizational skills. She believed that we should better the community we live in by actively volunteering, and held numerous positions of leadership in the Brighton Boy Scouts and the Catholic Women’s League. She was also an active member of the Warkworth Penitentiary Citizens Advisory Committee, and was the go-to person for newly-arrived Catholic priests in town. Along with Ruth Moore and Eleanor Dewey, Lucille started the figure skating club here in Brighton. A number of women in Brighton have stated that they were inspired by Lucille’s involvement and leadership, and chose to follow in her footsteps.
She and her husband Mark were each awarded the Benemerenti Medal in 1989 by Pope St. John Paul II, a very rare honour given for long and exceptional service to the Catholic Church. These medals were personally presented by Bishop Doyle of Peterborough.
Lucille and Mark both cherished family relationships and thought nothing of organizing and hosting numerous large family reunions over the years to encourage those connections. Many extended family members still talk fondly about those reunions, and the family remains close to this day due to their efforts.
She enjoyed playing cards, especially canasta and double solitaire; sharing yellow box Laura Secord Easter eggs with family all over the continent; watching figure skating and the news; reading, knitting and Sudoku puzzles; travelling, the freedom of driving, shopping trips to Yorkdale, and vacations in Tremblant; long phone calls; flowers; holding babies; dancing, hearing the piano being played, and singing in the church choir; and making baked Alaska. We hope she enjoyed baking chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes – family and friends certainly enjoyed eating them!
Lucille had numerous significant health ailments over the years – most people were unaware because she did not like talking about herself and she saw no point in complaining.
She had wonderful health care over the years and we would especially like to thank Dr. MacIntyre and her staff who cared for her for four decades; her oncologists Dr. Levesque (Belleville), Dr. Kankesan (Belleville) and Dr. DeMetz (Kingston) and their staff; and many other specialists. We also thank Anoop and his staff at PharmaChoice; the emergency and inpatient staff at Trenton Memorial Hospital; and all the staff at The Bridge Hospice in Warkworth for making her final days more comfortable, and for assisting the family immensely. The family is so pleased with the care Lucille received in her final weeks, and especially appreciate all that the staff at The Bridge did for her and for them.
If desired, in lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to any of the following which Lucille supported: Doctors Without Borders, CNIB Guide Dogs, Holy Angels Catholic Church, Trenton Memorial Hospital, or your local food bank. We also encourage support of a hospice of your choice.
Due to the current pandemic protocol, visitations and a funeral mass will be private. The family hopes to have a memorial funeral mass and a celebration of her life in the future, when pandemic protocol allows for larger gatherings. Memories and condolences may be shared at www.rushnellfamilyservices.com.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Lucille Scanlon Guimond Wednesday May 19th 2021..
Death notice for the town of: Trenton, Province: Ontario