Jacqueline Blanche Popek, 92, of Oakville, Ontario passed away January 11 ^th , 2021 after a short battle with esophageal cancer.   Jacqueline had the opportunity to say goodbye to her youngest son, Brent, and his wife, Krista, and her two granddaughters, Sharla and Natasha at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital.

Jacqueline was born February 5 ^th , 1928 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Jacqueline shares the same birthday as her eldest daughter, Gail.  She was married to Michael until his sudden death August 1987.  She is survived by her 3 children, Gail, Roger and Brent.  Jacqueline was the proudest of her 4 grandchildren, Natasha, Tawnya (predeceased), Sharla and Gunnar. She loved to learn about all their great adventures, share in special occasions, and cheer them on at the local rink.  Her grandson's dog Bobby C will also miss Jacqueline, and their long, long walks and naps - dinner time will never be the same.

Jacqueline comes from a large family, 9 siblings in all.  She is survived by her brothers Michael and Steven, and her sisters Elaine and Ciley.  In her younger years, many summers were spent in Halifax with her children and many nieces, nephews and cousins enjoying family time in Atlantic Canada.  Later years, Jacqueline enjoyed speaking with her family via telephone, swapping family stories.

Jacqueline was a tremendous volunteer all her life.  She will be known for her endless hours of dedication to the support of the Legion and our veterans.  Every Remembrance Day, Jacqueline could be found at Oakville Place Mall, and numerous locations throughout Orillia, proudly supporting her lifelong commitment to public service and our veterans.  She also committed her time to assist the elderly through the VON, Meals on Wheels, Widows & Widowers and senior programs within every community she resided in.  Jacqueline was an active participant in her children's development, volunteering whenever needed, from being a lunch lady to being an avid organizer for sports & recreation for her children.

Anyone who knew Jacqueline will know of her passion for sports and love for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Blue Jays.  It was a summer pastime to attend opening day of the baseball season in Toronto.  She was able to celebrate her 90 ^th birthday with her grandson Gunnar cheering on the blue and white Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena.  Like all sports fans, and in particular Toronto sports fans, many a night she could be found cursing her television.  Even in her final days, she was following the World Juniors, cheering on Team Canada from her hospital bed.

Jacqueline's greatest accomplishment was being a loving mother and grandmother. Cremation has taken place. A private family inurnment service will be held at the Saint Andrew's – Saint James' Cemetery in Orillia in the spring and we will also bring Jacqueline home to Halifax to have a portion of her ashes joined with her sisters before her. In lieu of flowers, the best way to honour Jacqueline is to spend time with your family as Jacqueline's greatest passion was spending time with her family.