A loving mother and wife, and friend to many, Connie Lavallee passed away in Revelstoke on Wednesday, April 29 th , 2020. Born in Vancouver (February 8, 1940), Connie married her neighbourhood sweetheart, Bernard Lavallee, in December 1960 and they moved to Revelstoke in 1963, where they raised their two children. Even with the distance of modern lives, Connie fostered close relationships with her son, Philip (Calgary), and daughter and son-in-law, Loraine and Barry (Prince George). Connie’s connection to Vancouver always remained strong because of her relationship to family, especially her two Aunts, May Cameron and Doris Hoag.
A sense of adventure and interest in culture permeated Connie’s life. As a homemaker, she loved entertaining and cooked delicious and exotic dishes from around the world. In her home, she created a cultural mosaic as a home-stay host to English-language students from Japan, Korea, Europe, Mexico and South America. Cultivating a wonderful sense of community among her students, she enhanced their lives and they hers. She travelled as much as she could, including visiting past students, but would have done much more if her health had permitted.
Connie was a skilled and creative interior designer. In 1982 she went to Vancouver to attend design school. She had a passion for re-designing houses and creating beautiful and functional living spaces. When she returned to Revelstoke, she worked as a realtor, a job that she loved because of the contact with people and the lovely sense of community in Revelstoke, and she set herself to re-designing her new and final home on Front Street.
Connie’s last big challenge was living with a rare degenerative neurological disease that took her vision, balance and motor control, but not her mind. She made many friends in Revelstoke and valued them warmly, but special mention must be made of those who were so close to her as her health declined: Josie Woodman, Else and Gordie Landers,
Gwyn and Geoff Battersby, Virginia and Robin Brooks-Hill, and Ruby Cameron. It truly takes a village to care for a person and Connie and Bernard have been greatly supported by homecare workers, quite notably, Chris Froehlich and caring neighbours, including Jeff and Lisa and Cal and Holly. A special thank you to nurses at the Queen Victoria Hospital for their exceptional care and support in Connie’s final days.
Observing the social-gathering restrictions, a service with family only was held on May 5 th .
Messages of sympathy may be sent to Connie’s family by viewing her obituary at:
www.brandonbowersfuneralhome.com
Arrangements were in the care of Brandon Bowers Funeral Home, Revelstoke.
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