Obituary for Suzanne Edwards (DeLarichelière)
Suzanne DeLarichelière Edwards (4 February 1949 to 8 April 2020) was born in Burlington, Vermont. She was nine weeks premature, and her aunt kept her alive until the newly-installed incubator had fully heated.
She was the youngest of three children born to the late Côme DeLarichelière and Aline Bouchard, the little sister of Joyce (Montreal) and Robert (Burlington), who both survive her. Suzanne spoke French at home, only learning English when she went to school. Her extended family was nearby, and she had very fond memories of summers on her uncle Rudy’s farm in Eden, Vermont.
After college, Suzanne spent time travelling in Europe, and lived in Paris for almost a year, where she set up a small sewing business hand-making silk ties. She sewed labels into each one that said, “Made Especially for You by Suzanne.” Her love of sewing (but not knitting) extended throughout her life; she had a quilt “on the go” until very recently. She was proud to have made many quilts for friends and family over the past thirty years; we all sleep under her designs.
She trained as a social worker, and was instrumental in establishing a much-needed medical clinic in Grand Isle, one of the islands in Lake Champlain. She took a further degree, in education, at McGill University, and became a primary-school teacher in Burlington.
Suzanne married John Edwards in January 1974, and they moved to Ireland shortly thereafter. In Ireland, she became fast friends with Dorren Ó Siochrú, who always remained very close to her. Colin was born in 1976, in a busy Dublin maternity hospital.
Suzanne, John and Colin moved to Nova Scotia in 1977, bought a house on Church Street, and added Emily (1978) and Katie (1980) to the family. Suzanne supported John’s academic career, and was his research assistant for several years, largely responsible for a province-wide project on reading. As well as her life-long devotion to quilt-making, she had a passion for bridge: she attended national and international tournaments, became a Life Master, and taught the game.
More importantly, she was an extraordinary mother, a deeply affectionate partner, the keeper of the home, the lover of all pets, and the adoptive parent of all children who came by. She cultivated extensive flower gardens, trading plants with all her friends; just as she could walk her garden and name each plant’s source, so too can others now say “that came from Suzanne” in their own gardens. One of her last wishes was to see her garden bloom one more time.
Suzanne very much enjoyed travelling and, beyond excursions to the west coast and throughout America, she visited many European countries – including Finland and Russia. Further afield still, she went to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brunei.
Suzanne received her first cancer diagnosis in 1997, but refused to use words like “battle” or “fight” to describe her experiences of the past 23 years. There were many, many times of joy – including the process of renovating the house in Lunenburg, and watching her children grow into adulthood. The fact that she lived through so many bouts with cancer surprised her doctors, but not us. She was both positive and a realist, and a staunch advocate for her own health. There were few things she enjoyed more than playing endless games of Scrabble with us, delighting in victory but being gracious in defeat.
Most of all, Suzanne cultivated relationships. The incredible volume of messages that we’ve received in the short time since her death indicates what we already knew to be true: she loved people – and they loved her.
Any house Suzanne lived in was a busy place: friends stopping for tea, children from the neighbourhood picking peas from the garden, relatives visiting from the States or England, acquaintances stopping by to pick up plants or jars of jam or any other thing she insisted on giving away.
She had a simple but profound impact on everyone she befriended: she made all of us feel wanted, welcomed, and loved.
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A celebration of Suzanne’s life will be held later, as circumstances permit.
If you wish, a donation to any animal charity would be a fitting memorial.
===============================================================
She was the youngest of three children born to the late Côme DeLarichelière and Aline Bouchard, the little sister of Joyce (Montreal) and Robert (Burlington), who both survive her. Suzanne spoke French at home, only learning English when she went to school. Her extended family was nearby, and she had very fond memories of summers on her uncle Rudy’s farm in Eden, Vermont.
After college, Suzanne spent time travelling in Europe, and lived in Paris for almost a year, where she set up a small sewing business hand-making silk ties. She sewed labels into each one that said, “Made Especially for You by Suzanne.” Her love of sewing (but not knitting) extended throughout her life; she had a quilt “on the go” until very recently. She was proud to have made many quilts for friends and family over the past thirty years; we all sleep under her designs.
She trained as a social worker, and was instrumental in establishing a much-needed medical clinic in Grand Isle, one of the islands in Lake Champlain. She took a further degree, in education, at McGill University, and became a primary-school teacher in Burlington.
Suzanne married John Edwards in January 1974, and they moved to Ireland shortly thereafter. In Ireland, she became fast friends with Dorren Ó Siochrú, who always remained very close to her. Colin was born in 1976, in a busy Dublin maternity hospital.
Suzanne, John and Colin moved to Nova Scotia in 1977, bought a house on Church Street, and added Emily (1978) and Katie (1980) to the family. Suzanne supported John’s academic career, and was his research assistant for several years, largely responsible for a province-wide project on reading. As well as her life-long devotion to quilt-making, she had a passion for bridge: she attended national and international tournaments, became a Life Master, and taught the game.
More importantly, she was an extraordinary mother, a deeply affectionate partner, the keeper of the home, the lover of all pets, and the adoptive parent of all children who came by. She cultivated extensive flower gardens, trading plants with all her friends; just as she could walk her garden and name each plant’s source, so too can others now say “that came from Suzanne” in their own gardens. One of her last wishes was to see her garden bloom one more time.
Suzanne very much enjoyed travelling and, beyond excursions to the west coast and throughout America, she visited many European countries – including Finland and Russia. Further afield still, she went to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brunei.
Suzanne received her first cancer diagnosis in 1997, but refused to use words like “battle” or “fight” to describe her experiences of the past 23 years. There were many, many times of joy – including the process of renovating the house in Lunenburg, and watching her children grow into adulthood. The fact that she lived through so many bouts with cancer surprised her doctors, but not us. She was both positive and a realist, and a staunch advocate for her own health. There were few things she enjoyed more than playing endless games of Scrabble with us, delighting in victory but being gracious in defeat.
Most of all, Suzanne cultivated relationships. The incredible volume of messages that we’ve received in the short time since her death indicates what we already knew to be true: she loved people – and they loved her.
Any house Suzanne lived in was a busy place: friends stopping for tea, children from the neighbourhood picking peas from the garden, relatives visiting from the States or England, acquaintances stopping by to pick up plants or jars of jam or any other thing she insisted on giving away.
She had a simple but profound impact on everyone she befriended: she made all of us feel wanted, welcomed, and loved.
===============================================================
A celebration of Suzanne’s life will be held later, as circumstances permit.
If you wish, a donation to any animal charity would be a fitting memorial.
===============================================================