It is with great sadness, and a sense of relief, that we announce the passing of Octave Andre LePoudre on Thursday, June 28, 2012 at the age of 92 years. Octave was born to Jules and Marie LePoudre on Christmas Day in 1919. His family had immigrated to Davidson leaving their beloved Belgium. Octave was one of 11 children in the family and was raised on the LePoudre homestead. He had three main loves in his life: Family, farming and visiting with his many friends.
Octave was predeceased by brothers Octave and Andre (in Belgium during the World War I), Andre and Clifford and by sisters Mary (Leva), Andrea, and Susan. He is survived by sisters Leona, Paula and by brother Paul. During World War II Octave joined the navy and made several trips across the Atlantic with the Royal Canadian Navy. His stories to his family about the war were very interesting and funny especially the stories about the times he got into trouble and he had to scrape and paint a room on the ship several times. He didn’t like talking about the dangers of war and kept those thoughts inside because he didn’t think his family should know about that aspect of war.
In 1948 Octave married Fern Reeves and they started their 63 years of life together on the family farm. The raised a family of seven children. Octave was very proud of the fact that they managed to raise and help all their children from a very meager beginning on this farm.
Octave was predeceased by son-in-law Jim Gottschalk and Pacee McLaren (great-grandson), is survived by his wife Fern and the following children: Daughter Brenda: son Corey with his wife Crystal and daughter Morgan; daughter Crystal and children Dameon, Bryton, Madison, Chynna and Bryant;
Son Allan Joseph (Rose Marie): daughter Karen Kaye (Mark); daughter Kristi (Gerry) children Kiera, Declan and Kinley; daughter Tonia (Elmer) and son Raymond;
Son Glenn (Marnie): daughter Bobbi-Jo (Roland) children Jasmine, Derian, Randy and Robin; daughter Natasha (Kevin) children Kyle, Kassey, and Kloe;
Son Keith (Faith): daughter Jadean (Blair) children Lincoln and Colton; son Andrew (Natasha) children Nathan and Nixon; daughter Ashton;
Son Monte (Holly): daughter Dana ( Tony) and Wyatt; son Darnel;
Daughter Marie (Larry): son Kailin, daughter Jurrai;
Daughter Donna (Brett): daughters Brooke and Jordan, son Jesse.
Octave was always proud of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and always found ways to support them or encourage them. He was known by all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren for the following:
1. When they visited Grandpa and Grandma, Grandpa would always have a loonie or toonie for each of them. This took planning to make sure enough loonies and toonies were on hand for major holidays when most of the Grandchildren would visit.
2. Grandpa always had gum or treats for the kids when they came to visit.
3. Grandpa and Grandma would also always reward the children if they passed into the next grade, usually with a $5 bill.
4. If any of the grandchildren needed something to help them move forward in their lives grandpa often helped out if he could.
5. Grandpa was known for teasing and for telling stories to the kids about aspects of his life.
When Octave and Fern moved to Davidson to retire, Octave could be found having coffee with his many friends at the Husky. He loved to visit and talk about farming, politics and what was going on in the community. These coffees would take place two to three times a day and would always end in the group flipping coins to pay for the coffee or playing the numbers game. This became a very important part of Octave’s life in his later years. Jim Ulmer once sent Octave a loonie because he thought he should pay up front because he often lost the coin flip.
Fern and Octave’s house often would host visitors from the community and from many parts of Canada. These people would stop and visit because they had met Fern or Octave sometime in the past and just wanted to stop by and say hi. Octave’s legacy will be his large family, many friends and his ability to talk to everyone. He had a long and eventful life and will be sadly missed!
Prayers were held Monday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Mass Tuesday, July 3 at 11:00 a.m. at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Davidson. Interment will be at a later date. Donations to the Davidson Health Centre, Canadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation or any charity of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Hanson’s Funeral Home.