Euphrasie Henriette Le Sann CLEMENT

1933 - 2021

EUPHRASIE HENRIETTE LE SANN CLEMENT September 4, 1933 - March 17, 2021 A remarkable story of love has drawn to its earthly close. On Wednesday, March 17, 2021 as we tenderly held her hands while her favourite music from Handel's Messiah played, this ever-gracious lady passed away. For 87 years, she inspired friends, family and her many communities with a formidable strength and ever-present kindness. It would never have been long enough. Her parents Alain-Marie Le Sann and Euphrasie Kerleroux left the Bretagne region of France in the early 1900s to pursue an agricultural vocation in Western Canada. Under the vast open skies of the Prairies, she was born on the farm in Saskatchewan and given the distinctive name Euphrasie (Phrasie) which so befitted her singular charm. The family would soon move to Elie, Manitoba where she grew up, steeped in the wheat farming values of hard work, family, and the love of Canada. She was predeceased by her brothers Frank, Alain, Armand and Yves, by her sisters Marie McCreight and Anne-Marie Bansfield, and by her brothers-in-law Max McCreight, Joe Raverty and Normand Bernard and sisters-in-law Kathy and Doris. She is survived by her sisters Josephine Bernard and Aline Raverty, by her brother-in-law Irving Bansfield, her sisters-in-law Emma and Ellie as well as by many nieces and nephews. With her keen mind she obtained degrees from both Collège St-Boniface and the University of Manitoba which led her to Montreal, where she taught French at Marymount High School. Her exquisite proficiency in French, her maternal language, was highly regarded and she obtained a further degree in translation from l'Université de Montréal. Her ready smile and twinkling eyes drew the attention of a fine young man originally from Trinidad & Tobago, Hubert Clement, who like her parents had also come to Canada in search of opportunity. Hubert became the love of her life for nearly 57 years. He became our dear good Pop, whom we will continue to surround and honour with love. They shared a devotion to teaching as they served their community side-by-side. While their brave bi-racial love story was not accepted by all in the 1960s, Euphrasie and Hubert were blessed with three children, daughters Bernadette and Catherine and son Joseph (Lisa Elkin) whom they raised with serenity and respect for the diversity of Creation. Joe and Lisa's five children Mathieu, Emily, Jacob, Julia, and Alice continue in this tradition as outstanding Canadians. Her family was a source of immense joy and great pride. Her children and grandchildren consider themselves blessed by the imprint of love and kindness she has left upon them, as do her many dear friends who were graced by her spirit. We entrust Euphrasie to God now, to carry on this love story for its Heavenly sequel. In accordance with current pandemic requirements, only immediate family and friends will be able to attend the funeral Mass which will be celebrated at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church, 4455 rue West Broadway in Montreal on Thursday. March 25, 2021 at 11.am Eastern Daylight Time. Through the wonders of technology guests throughout Canada and across the ocean in France may attend virtually through https://youtu.be/1nbFYlu7MDs . In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Côte-Saint-Luc Public library https://csllibrary.org/donations/), to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts or to the charity of your choice to honour Euphrasie's memory. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to the Mount Royal Cemetery and Funeral Complex, 1297 Chemin de la Forêt, Outremont, Québec H2V 2P9.