SUZANNE RITA MULAIRE

After a lengthy illness, and with her family by her side, Suzanne Rita Mulaire passed away peacefully on February 18, 2025, at the age of 71 years. Suzanne is survived by her spouse of 46 years, Jeffrey Harris, her children Lise Pinkos (Kale), Gaetan Harris and Chantal Harris (Corey Reynolds), her grandchildren Spencer, Marianne and Théodore, her siblings Paulette Beaudette (Andy), Lorraine Taylor, Jocelyne Kowaski (Ken), Natalie Mulaire and Jean Mulaire (Ruth) as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Jean-Baptiste and Lucille Mulaire and her niece and nephew, Angela and Ian Bland.

The youngest of her family, Suzanne was born and raised in St. Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba. She attended the University of Manitoba where she earned a B.A. and a B.Ed., leading to a long and rewarding career teaching Kindergarten and primary grades, mostly in the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine.

Suzanne was a proud Franco-manitobaine and sat on the boards of the Festival du Voyageur and le Cercle Moliere. Teaching was her passion and her students benefitted from her dedication and creativity. She spent her evenings working at the dining room table marking, cutting, colouring, preparing and creating projects and lessons for her students, who remembered Mme Suzanne long after they left school. Suzanne always worked to instil a strong sense of pride in the French language in her students, her children and her grandchildren.

Suzanne’s joy was her family – nothing was more important. She was the primary driver to the Y for swim, dance and leadership classes and supported the kids in any venture that they wanted to try. When the kids were small, she spent hours crafting with them, often testing out projects that she wanted to try in her classroom.

Suzanne’s favourite place was the cottage at Lester Beach. Preparations for the summer at the cottage were completed early so that Suzanne and the kids were on the road on the last day of school. There she remained until it was time to prepare for the start of the next year. It was not uncommon for Suzanne to spend full days at the beach with the kids and end the day with a spontaneous bar-b-que with a couple of other beach families. Lifelong friendships grew from summers at Lester Beach. In the later years, Suzanne had a vegetable garden at the cottage, where she spent countless hours nurturing, weeding and pruning her crop to get the best out of it.

Suzanne loved to entertain, from dinner parties to kids’ birthday parties to soup nights, and of course, the legendary Lobster Feasts. No opportunity was missed to bring people together and celebrate and she never spared any effort in making each event special. Kids birthdays were 3-part events – a party for the kids and their friends, one for the whole family, with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and, of course, a special dinner to mark the actual birthday date. Christmas dinners were also particularly special events and never, never small – it was not uncommon to have four tables set up for a sit-down dinner, followed by a living room dance party.

Always the teacher, Suzanne was not content to prepare and serve a dinner or make soups. She usually planned and organized a game or two for the group. The Mulaire and Harris families will remember her Christmas bingo-calling fondly. Competition for her carefully selected prizes was fierce.

Carrying on her own mother’s traditions and despite the hectic time with the return to the classroom in the fall, Suzanne always found time to make more pickles, jams, pasta sauces and salsa for the ensuing year than we could possibly consume. Guests around this time usually left the house with a jar or two of the current year’s production.

After her retirement, she and Jeff started to travel. Together they travelled to Italy and France where they cycled and went on food and wine tours, to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica for the sun, to Ireland to meet family and to Korea for the 2018 Olympic Games.

Retirement also gave her the time to learn to knit, something that she had long wanted to do. It was then that she found a like-minded group of women, the “Knit Wits”, to share her love of knitting. Suzanne treasured the times that the Knit Wits got together, although very little knitting was actually accomplished during these get-togethers.

While she dedicated herself to her kids while they were growing up, she turned her attention to her grandchildren when they started to arrive. Grand-maman could not do enough for Spencer, Marianne and Théo. From playing, crafting, reading and baking, to caring for them on sick days and taking them to dentist appointments, she played a major role in their lives. They loved being at the cottage with her where they learned the joys of the beach that their mothers had when they were young. They were a crowning glory for a life-well lived.

Suzanne fought hard over the past 2 years but ultimately lost her fight with cancer. We were very fortunate to have the amazing support of Cancer Care and finally, Palliative Care as we waged the battle with her. With that support, Suzanne was able to remain at home until the last week of her life. We are grateful for their care.

A Celebration of Life for Suzanne will be held from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3, 2025 in Buhler Hall at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (use the Group entrance) located at 85 Israel Asper Way, Winnipeg. 

In lieu of flowers, Suzanne asked for those so inclined to make a donation to Cancer Care Manitoba.

“Death leaves a heartache 

no one can heal; 

Love leaves a memory 

no one can steal"

Suzanne’s family kindly requests that all of her friends and relatives take a few minutes to honour her memory by sharing photos, memories, and stories, using the comment section on this page.

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ETHICAL DEATH CARE

Cremation & Life Celebrations

1833 Portage Avenue - Winnipeg

204-421-5501 - www.ethicaldeathcare.com

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