Our Mom has passed. A great Mom, wife, daughter and person is now gone.

Our Mom was a proud Quebecer born in Mascouche and raised and married in Verdun.

After high school she enrolled in nursing at Montreal Homeopathic Hospital (now Queen Elizabeth Hospital) graduating in June 1948 with her RN designation.

Mom always liked travel and adventure. In the late '40's she with fellow nurse and close friend Betty Banks went across Canada to nurse in Vancouver and then in Portland, Oregon. When back in the east it was off to New York City to nurse while living in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn.

In the early '50's she became a stewardess for Trans-Canada Air Lines (now Air Canada). Based in Montreal she flew the North Atlantic route to London and Paris, the Caribbean routes as well as the Montreal - Vancouver route. In those days a stewardess had to be an RN. Her stories and pictures of post-war commercial air travel were both fascinating and entertaining.

She met her future husband Albert on a blind date at the Notre-Dame-De-Grace (NDG) Tennis Club through mutual friends and it actually worked, lasting through 6 years of courtship and over 53 years of marriage. Dad was working for the Royal Bank of Canada in Havana, Cuba and Mom was in Montreal. Both flew to meet in Miami where Dad popped the question and the rest is history. Marriage was not an easy decision for Mom as she would have to resign from Trans-Canada Air Lines because the rules of the day did not allow a married woman to be a stewardess.

In married life the travel continued but in a different manner as Dad's career with the Royal Bank took them from Montreal to Moncton back to Montreal and then off to Vancouver in 8 hectic years, all with 3 somewhat rambunctious boys in tow. During those busy years she continued to nurse part time and volunteer at the local hospitals when she could. She used to say her life had become that of a short order cook and taxi driver getting her boys fed and then off to their next sports event. Both her and Dad said that their 12 years in Vancouver were the best years of their lives.

In the early '80's it was back to Montreal and then finally to Miami where Dad retired from the Royal Bank.

In retirement they split their time between Waterloo, On. and Sarasota, Fla.

The travel, however, continued - visiting family in Vancouver, Toronto and Detroit, and to many far-flung reaches of the world always looking for a new adventure.

In 2008 her world changed as her beloved Al passed. Her life took another turn in 2010 when visiting New York City with her best friend, Lillian Pollock, when a bad fall finally slowed her down.

Mom always had a smile on her face and an ever-optimistic outlook on life. Dad used to say that those were the two aspects (among others) about Mom that he found so attractive.

Mom spent her last 11 years at The Kensington retirement facility in Oakville, travelling occasionally to visit family and friends in Vancouver.

She was predeceased by her parents George and Florence Alexander, husband Albert and her brother Lloyd Alexander. She leaves behind her 3 loving sons Scott, Brent and Craig, their wives Marlene, Denise and Lori, grandchildren Kate, Jane and Scott, Vanessa and Victoria, and Kayla and Mellissa and great- grandchildren Jack, Kate and Clark.

We would like to thank all the staff both past and present at The Kensington for their care and compassion looking after our Mom.

There will be no service, but please raise a glass (her choice was gin and tonic - always in moderation) and toast our Mom - she had a long life, extremely well lived.

We miss you Mom and always will.

Love Scott, Brent and Craig