Obituary of Mary Matilda Gaudet

Mary “Matilda” Gaudet January 29/1933- December 19/2025 Born in Port Felix to Jeffery and Minnie (Bond) Pellerine. She was the youngest of 11 children. Brothers-Walter, Stanley, Clarence, Wallace, Clayton(Pic), Lawsey & ,Jimmy. Sisters- Geneve, Jean & Rita. Her mother passed when she was only 2 yrs old. She gained a second family when a relative, Martha DeCoste helped raise her. She always considered them as part of her family. She moved to Halifax at age 15 where many of her siblings lived. Worked at Moirs chocolate factory for 12 years. She met Godfrey through mutual friends and they married May 29,1958. They lived in Halifax for a few years then moved to Janvrins Island in the early 1960 ‘s where they built their forever home. Along came Anthony (Dorothy Currie) and Karen (Karrol Marchand). She loved her family and was always concerned about everyone, especially her grandchildren, Megan & Destiny, Drake, Riley and Ivy along with Lacey, who passed at birth. She was a great nanny and always attended dance recitals, Christmas concerts, graduations etc.. (Unless it was bingo night of course.) She was kind, generous, determined, hard working, witty, feisty and up for anything. She was the type that didn’t pay too much attention to detail, always in a hurry. She gave cards with a little tip for all occasions (it was always a laugh to see what occasion she quickly grabbed). When patience was passed around she didn’t get much. She was always ready and waiting for something , like her food to come at a restaurant or her bingo numbers to be called on Telile. She loved to gamble like playing bingo, cards, scratch or pull tickets and her trips to the casino (the house with no curtains she called it). She never drove but always got where she wanted to go. Not often with Godfrey because she didn’t like his driving. Friends picked her up to go to bingo or the card play. She was always ready at the front door. Summer vacations in Halifax with her siblings (many called her aunt Matilda), bus trips with friends for bingo, St Anne de Beaupre or anywhere Richmond recreation went. She had her own seat in Karen’s car, for weekly shopping, annual Port Felix trips, grandchildren’s events and family outings. Everywhere the car went, she went (always asking where they were stopping for dinner). If she wasn’t home, Godfrey would say “she’s chasing tires” There was always something cooking on the stove. Her biscuits, stew, and family boiled dinners were a hit. She loved her tea, cold, boiled, old or new and carried a supply in her purse for the weak tea in restaurants. She went through many pyrex tea pots in her lifetime as she boiled them dry. A running joke was: When the smoke alarm rang - dinner was ready. She loved fresh cream, a good feed of herring, sweets and picking berries.(Of course everyone from Port Felix picks berries.) She was a hard worker. Spring cleaning always involved, moving furniture around, a new bedspread or set of curtains for one room or another and a fresh coat of paint (Godfrey would say the house was getting smaller from so many layers of paint). The yard was well kept, you could find her outside cutting grass with a pair of scissors and always adding a new solar light to her collection. In her spare time she served as a member of the West Arichat CWL and Janvrins Seniors Club, as well as opening her home to nanny Gaudet for summers and other people in the community that needed a place to stay. She began getting memory problems when she was 88 and went to live at her daughter’s house because she was unable to take care of herself. Godfrey, also 88 , did his best ,but it was a challenge. Her short term memory failed her, but she remembered the past and her family. Even in her last weeks she didn’t communicate much, but would grin, and come out with something that made you laugh. She strived to be independent, never complaining or asking for much. She was loved and will be missed by those she loved.