Obituary for Colette Walsh

Colette Walsh
At the Ottawa Hospital - General Campus on Sunday August 16, 2020.

On a dark and stormy night on February 10, 11 or 12, 1939 Colette (always in a hurry) arrived early, to the consternation of her parents. Apparently they were expecting her a few days later in the hospital in Newport, Vermont. She was born in Rock Island, Quebec where she started school. She grew up in Sherbrooke and Lennoxville, Quebec. She liked to play tennis. One time she hitchhiked to North Hatley, Quebec so she could watch other kids being taught how to swim. Because of religious restrictions, she wasn’t allowed to go to the YWCA for swimming lessons so she taught herself by watching from afar.

After graduation, she worked for the Philip Carey Co., until she left for nurse’s training in Kingston, Ontario. While there, she was invited on a blind date and was given a choice between two cadets from the Royal Military College. One had brown eyes and the other blue. As luck would have it, she chose blue-eyed Bob. And the rest is history.

Bob and Colette were married in May 1959. Their first posting was to Gimly, Manitoba, where Bob received his pilots wings. From there they were sent to Cold Lake, Alberta, where their oldest daughter Carrie was born. After that they were posted to St. Hubert, Quebec where daughter Catherine was born. Their Centennial year posting was to Ottawa where son John was born. All in all, they moved 29 times over a 40 year career with DND. They considered themselves lucky to have met so many wonderful people and that they were able to keep many of them as life-long friends.

After her darling children were off to school, Colette decided to learn some new crafts and she also volunteered as a Brownie leader then Guide Captain and then Ranger Leader at Base Borden, Ontario. After moving to Ottawa she soon found that the local guiding movement needed a Treasurer. She also volunteered to swim with children with physical disabilities, volunteered at various high schools, hospitals and crafts sales. Among her many crafting skills, she mastered rug hooking, cake decorating, flower arranging, jewellery making, and greeting card design.

Soon the children were off to university and with a lot of hard work, they all graduated.

Next came her beloved grandchildren, Andrea, Jenn, Tess, Ben and wee Georgia. She was very proud of all of their creativity and hard work.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Ottawa Food Bank would be gratefully accepted. As well, if you see some silly little thing that makes you smile, remember her then. That would make her smile too.