Lise HÉLIE

1927 - 2024

LISE HÉLIE 1927 - 2024 La famille Hélie announces with sadness the death of Lise Hélie (née Boivin) on February 8, 2024, at the age of 97. While we grieve our great loss, we celebrate a life of love and her utter devotion to family. She was a mother and grandmother like no other. To her, raising a large family was her greatest vocation, and one which she often looked back upon with tremendous satisfaction. She fostered a great sense of independence in each of her children while offering arms open wide for a safe return to the fold. Lise was born on February 4, 1927, to Dr. J. Narcisse Boivin and Mme Alice Boivin (née Boisseau) in Hull, QC. She tragically lost her father at the tender age of 10, and often spoke longingly of him. She was predeceased by her parents and siblings, Paul Arthur Boivin, Jean Boivin and Madeleine Conroy (née Boivin). She was also predeceased by her loving husband, Gilles Aimé Hélie, on December 14, 2020. Most challenging for her was the premature loss of her son, Marc André Hélie, on June 14, 2021. Following a long courtship, Lise married Gilles in 1951 and they started their family during his medical residency in Detroit, Michigan. In 1956, they moved to Sudbury, ON, where she was instrumental in supporting his surgical practice until retirement in 1992. Lise often spoke with great fondness of the joys of raising her family on the shores of Ramsey Lake. She also had foresight; she required each of her children to take swimming lessons until they obtained a prescribed level of competence. An athletic woman in her youth, Lise thought nothing of putting on her skis and crossing the lake on a beautiful winter day. She often spoke of skiing to school as a girl in the days of snowy winters before the salting of roads became common in Canada (and of course roller skating in the summer). Lise was educated at the Couvent Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur on Rideau St. in neighbouring Ottawa. As a young woman she was an accomplished tennis competitor, a sport which she followed avidly her whole life. Throughout her life, Lise remained steadfast in her Roman Catholic faith. She embodied the fundamental virtues of simplicity, humility and gratitude and led a down to earth life. She welcomed strangers and saw people for who they were. Gilles and Lise retired to Lac Ste Marie, QC, and Ottawa to be near her sister, Madeleine. They enjoyed their retirement in remarkably good health until relatively recently. To Lise, her children and grandchildren were her greatest accomplishments and her role as the cornerstone of that family made for a good life, 'une vie réussie.' Lise leaves behind her loving family: her children, Jasmin (Jane), Josée, Michel (Terry), CJ and Louise (Dennis); and her grandchildren, Corey (Casey) and Justin (Colm). A funeral will be held at Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Church, 435 Montreal Rd., Ottawa, on Friday, February 23, 2024, at 10:30 a.m.