Laurie Gagnon was born on January 9, 1959 and passed away peacefully after a tremendous battle on June 26th 2023 at the age of 64.

 

She was predeceased by her mother Dolores, Father Jim and the love of her life Denis. She leaves behind parts of her heart with sons Jeff (Carla) Mike (Danielle), daughter Amanda (Zane), grandchildren (Alex, Makenzie, Nickolas Natasha and Carter), her inherited daughter Melanie, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles nieces, nephews and tons of special friends. 

 

Laurie grew up in St Boniface with her family and she was the second oldest out of 5. She held many memories of all the friends she made and all of their adventures at happy land park and pool.

 

She loved visiting her family in Neepawa and Gladstone where she spent a lot of her time. Spending time at her nanny and poppas or aunty Bunny's house were some of her most cherished memories and moments. 

 

When she was 11, she met the love of her life Denis and they began growing a life together. Their love was a special kind of love that was truly inspirational. She spent many years working at the dry cleaners with her sister Debbie and niece Kim before she returned to school and completed her GED. and received her accounting diploma, then worked at National leasing up until retirement. It was such a huge success, hard work, dedication and we were all so proud of her.

 

Denis and Laurie always enjoyed traveling. Whether they were hopping in the truck camper for a quick or long adventure, driving as far south as they could or hopping in a plane, they always enjoyed their time. They traveled to so many different cities and we couldn’t wait to hear the stories of their latest adventure. She always had family time in mind whether it was swims at Concordia pool, going to the dog parks, Sunday coffees with George, Rob and her Tim Horton’s family, demolition derbies (where she won at powder puff), spending time with her grandchildren or Saturday night 31 matches (definitely not monopoly). Holidays were always incredibly important to Laurie, the food, the atmosphere and the days and evenings of laughs were always something to look forward to. Nothing would compare to Christmas, which always took the win, even her yearly front yard display was incredible.

 

Family was almost most important to Laurie and she made sure her closest friends knew they were part of her family including Barb, Tisha, Shelley and her Selkirk camping family. She spent her summers camping in Selkirk where they spent over 30 years as a seasonal camper. For many years she organized an annual fishing derby, she spent many nights playing lawn darts and sitting by the fire listening to music. The weekend breakfasts and pot lucks were always her favorite because they brought everyone together. Every year she planted her vegetable garden at home and the variety of flowers she showcased and had been incredible. 

 

When Laurie was diagnosed with the biggest, hardest battle of her life she never gave up. Nearing the end she enjoyed catching up with old friends, time with family, special visits from godson Rendel and Erica, Tanis and weekly lunch dates with her sisters. She started everyday positive and knew that no matter what she had a wonderful life. Her bravery and courage were truly admirable.

 

We would like to say a huge thank you to Cancer Care MB, WRHA palliative care program.

 

A celebration of Laure's life will be announced at a later date.