Eunice Goyette

The loving family of Eunice Goyette is sad to announce her death on October 10, 2023 in Leamington. She was a month away from her 98th birthday.

How can we possibly describe a vibrant life that spanned almost a century? Eunice has been the warm heart of her family, nurturing five children, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren, and helping many people in her community. We cannot begin to imagine life without her.

Born in Innisfree, Alberta on November 10, 1925, Eunice grew up in the rugged Depression years on the prairies. Her family moved often during her childhood, as others did, following jobs wherever they could find them. She lived in Winnipeg, Toronto, and for several treasured years in a work camp on the Skeena River in B.C.

Her adult life was happier and more settled. At the end of the Second World War, she married Louis Emile Goyette, her Mel, the love of her life. She supported him as a clerical worker through his McGill University years when they were first married.

She created homes for the family in Kingston, Port Hope, and Arnprior where Mel began his teaching career, and in Lucknow, Kingsville and Leamington when he became a secondary school principal. Wherever they went, they were a team.

If Eunice had been born in an era and place with more opportunities for women, she might have been a professional musician. Both choral music and the piano enriched her life, and she has a deep lifelong love of opera.

She was also committed to nature and the environment, and loved camping, beach walks at Point Pelee, feeding birds and exploring the natural world. She worked as an active community volunteer for many local organizations, including the South Essex Community Council, Leamington Choral Society, Erie Wildlife Rescue, and Friends of Point Pelee, to name only a few.

She helped many individuals, privately and anonymously, and they will remember her. The Unitarian Universalist Church at Olinda was her spiritual haven, and its members were her treasured friends.

Eunice would say her life’s achievement was her family. She is survived by her children, Linda (Allan), Paul (Cheryl), Alan (Marion) and Allyson (John); her grandchildren, Kira (Chris), Peter (Leah), Shandal (Shawn), Melissa, (Brennan), Kyle, Max, Jason (Pam) and Emily; and her great-grandchildren, Logan, Carter, Brody, Kayleigh, Brady, Cameron, Sebastian, Isabel and Heyla.

Eunice was predeceased by her husband, L.E. Goyette, her daughter Ann Marie Goyette and her only brother, Bill Campbell. We will remember her always.

We will celebrate her long life at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Olinda on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. with family and friends. Interment will follow at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Erie Shores Hospice in Leamington where our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother died with peace and dignity.

Service Details

Service

When
Thursday, October 12, 2023 1:00pm

Location
Unitarian Universalist Church
2953 Olinda Side Rd
Ruthven, Ontario N0P 2G0

Get Directions: View Map

Donations

Donations are being accepted for: Erie Shores Hospice.