Obituary of Sophie Marie Samson

Samson, Sophie - It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our mother, grandmother and sister, Sophie (Girroir) Samson, resident of St. Anne's Community & Nursing Care Centre, Arichat. Born in West Arichat, June 25, 1927 to Jean-Baptiste and Mabel (Girroir) Girroir. She was the youngest of fourteen children and is survived by her sister, Sr. Nancy Girroir, Riverview, NB. She was the wife of the late Jean Francois Samson and is survived by her six children, Cynthia (Gary) Landry, Paulette (Clifford) Boudreau, Angela (Michael) Boudreau, Lois (Kevin) Young, Brian (Alice) Samson and Lisa (Brian) Boudreau and fifteen grandchildren, Jason and Stephen Landry, Nathan (Jennifer), Jonas, Samuel and Franchesca Boudreau, Mandy Boudreau, Evan and Chad Young, Kayla, Simone and Jacques Samson, and Nicole, Ben and Émilie Boudreau and three great-grandchildren, Ava, Xavia and Annabelle. Also, special niece Rosie (Adolphe) Forgeron and in-laws, Claudia LeBlanc, Rita (Charles) Landry, Jean d'Arc Landry, Lillian Samson, Norma Samson and Harry (Jessie) Helin, as well as many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her siblings, Petronille, (Adolphe), Edmund, Euclide, Raymond, "Capucin" Thomas, Sr. Eva May, Genevieve, Monsignor Conrad, Sophie Stella and three in infancy. Sophie was a person of great courage, strength, compassion and faith. She began her journey as a teacher in Louisdale where many remember her as the beautiful young sister of Fr. Conrad, then parish priest-only to be admired from afar! She then felt her true calling and entered formal training through St. Martha's School of Nursing to become a Registered Nurse. As a young nurse, she traveled and worked for a few years in New York and California before returning to her beloved Isle Madame. There she met and married husband Jean and settled to raise her family. Sophie is fondly remembered as a caring and compassionate nurse. She assisted in the delivery of many babies in the old St. Anne's Hospital and saw the passing on, of many in the current, St. Anne's Community & Nursing Care Centre, often spending nights sitting by patient's bedside helping to ease the loneliness and suffering with her presence. As a wife and mother, she shone, always expecting the best, never punishing weaknesses, always encouraging strengths. She taught by example, often quoting the golden rules as cornerstones to a life well lived. She gave generously of her time and provided varied experiences to boost our day and enrich our lives. Believing in the importance of education, she encouraged our best, trusting we would do well because we were "all smart like your father". She also encouraged post-secondary education as a necessary base upon which to grow, prosper and give back to society. We, her children, will always remember her kind voice, encouraging and wise words and beautiful face. She was a mother by excellence, always patient, giving, nurturing and forever loved. She became a role model and mother to many she met along the way. Sophie understood the process of life and faced each new health challenge with the same grace and faith with which she had always lived. Knowing the end was near and bravely moving forward toward her final journey and eternal resting place in the presence of our Lord and Savoir, she now rests eternally in the Lord's tender embrace. Visitation will be held on Thursday, May 5, 2011 from 2 - 4 & 7 - 9 pm and on Friday May 6, 2011 from 12 - 1:30 p.m. all in C.H. Boudreau Funeral Home, 633 Veteran's Memorial Drive in Arichat. Funeral Mass to celebrate the life of Sophie will be held Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. in St. Joseph's Church, Petit De Grat on with Rev. Duaine Devereaux officiating. Burial to take place in the Star of the Sea Cemetery, Petit De Grat. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of our loved one's favourite charities, Leeside Transition House or Development and Peace. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the C.H. Boudreau Funeral Home in Arichat. To send words of comfort to the family or to light a candle in memory of Sophie, please visit www.chboudreau.com