August 29, 2020
Colette Cantin, age 71 passed away peacefully August 29th 2020 to natural causes. Due to the social distancing from Covid-19 there will be no service at this time. A memorial service will be announced for a later date in the New Year.
Colette was born in Ontario and adopted at birth to Ben and Lucy Cantin. She is survived by her 3 children and their spouses: Steven Fisher and his wife Charlotte, Lesley O'Toole and her husband Roger, and Ben Fisher and his wife Nancy; Colette's grandchildren Emerson, Cooper, Jagger, Branden and Jason; her sister Carole Brisson, and her brothers Claude Bisson and Gilles Bisson.
In her youth she spent time in a boarding school run by catholic nuns, broke free and completed her teaching certification in Ontario. She lived in Toronto for a spell where she took a sabbatical from teaching and worked in the hospitality industry. It was in those years that she became an excellent foodie and gourmet cook. Colette was a free spirit and was fun to be around, in the 80's after deciding to attend the University of British Columbia; she hitchhiked her way across Canada to British Columbia from Ontario. She enjoyed languages and majored in linguistics, graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1986. Afterwards she moved to Prince Rupert and shaped many lives as a French immersion teacher.
Colette had a passion for teaching and truly valued her relationships with her students. Her approach and teaching style was utilizing song, cultural values and dry slapstick humor, which endeared her to her students, who will remember and take with them the memory and lessons she taught. She was more than a teacher; she was a mentor, a friend, a mother figure and a no-nonsense educator who meant business. She adroitly and responsibly planned and produced the successful annual graduation fashion show held at the Performing Art's Center for many years. She has left an indelible mark on her students and this community. She was able to convey the French language to generations of pupils who will always enjoy bilingualism. Colette taught for 35 years until her retirement in 2014.
After her retirement she could be found on most days watching the ships roam around the harbor from her kitchen window. Colette was a genuine, kind hearted, sincere and generous person, who often took strays into her home, and sometimes of the four legged variety. She always had a loving pet, either a German shepherd or a feline friend as she loved animals. She enjoyed nature, people and engaging in meaningful conversation with people of all nationalities, professions and walks of life.
She loved the community of Prince Rupert and all the characters there in, and she often said I love that I live on a little island in the Pacific.