Obituary for Gloria Verna Durand (Malone)
DURAND, Gloria Verna (April 16, 1926 – February 22, 2022) –
Passed away, peacefully, in her sleep, but always surrounded by love, Gloria Verna (Malone) Durand a resident of Tillsonburg, in her 96th year. Born in Elk Lake, Ontario daughter of the late Frederick Malone and the late Leona (Villeneuve) Malone. Gloria was a wonderful wife and mother. Gloria was dedicated to her church and the C.W.L. She was a C.W.L. member for over 75 years serving as Past President and later C.W.L. Provincial Director and C.W.L. Provincial Representative Leader being recognized for following C.W.L. values of family, service and faith. Throughout her life Gloria was outgoing, and demonstrative and helpful to others. She made friends very easily and gave away her many “cookies made with care”. Gloria is predeceased by her beloved husband of 68 years Joseph Gabriel Durand (2013). Much loved mother and mother-in-law of: Elizabeth Anne Durand, London; Mary Gloria Durand (Jim DeMelo), Tillsonburg and her daughter Nina Gloria Anderson (Frank Mills); Joseph Anthony Durand, London; Anne Rochelle Hartley (Paul Winstanley-Hayes, Midland; and children: Derek Vincent Hartley (Genevieve Coburn), Dee Alicia Hartley (Chis Pomfret). Proud great grandmother of two great-grandsons: Colton Joseph Mills and Beau Robert Mills. Survived by a sister Anita Taylor (and late Bill), Haileybury. Predeceased by a young infant son Peter Joseph Durand (1953), three brothers and a sister.
A Complete Public Traditional Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, February 26th, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s R.C. Church, Tillsonburg, by Rev. Fr. Thomas Kuriacko. Friends, neighbours, and relatives are invited to attend public visitation on Friday, February 25th, 2022, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes Chapel, 262 Broadway Street, Tillsonburg. A C.W.L. Prayer Service will be held at 4:00 pm on Friday. All attendees must bring and wear a face mask and are asked to observe social distancing guidelines. Internment will take place later in the family plot at Avondale Cemetery, Stratford. Cherished memories, favourite photos, and memorial donations to the “Heart – Links” can be contributed via Gloria’s online tribute page at www.verhoevefuneralhomes.com or by cheque through the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes- Burial and Cremation Services Inc. (519)842-4238, entrusted with all funeral arrangements, with confidence.
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-EULOGY BY ANNE HARTLEY-
"My Mom was put on this earth to love and to bake cookies. She was a fantastic cookie baker and loved giving them away to family and friends; and complete strangers. Then my mom got on a loaf cake kick. My sisters lived together here in Tillsonburg for a few years and mom kept them supplied with those loaf cakes. Well, there were so many loaf cakes that they couldn’t possibly eat them all so they gave a lot of them away. Still every time they went to the freezer there were more loaf cakes. They felt they were experiencing their own miracle of the loaves and the fishes.
Mom was gregarious, perhaps the most extraverted person that I knew. She greeted everyone with a word or a smile whether walking on the street, in the mall or in a store. There wasn’t a baby within twenty feet that didn’t receive her attention. If you knew her; you were hugged.
Mom had a fondness for beer. On her 90th birthday we asked everyone to bring her a beer. We think there was another miracle because there wasn’t a duplicate among them. A few days before she went into palliative care, she told my sister that she thought she had drunk her last beer. That is a bittersweet memory for sure.
I remember when the census takers would come to the door and ask my mom her occupation, she would say “I’m a wife and a mother.” The census taker would then say ‘housewife’ and my mother would, “No, I’m a wife and a mother.” She used to tell me that all she ever wanted was to have children. She loved her children, 3 grandchildren and 2 greatgrandchildren.
Mom always had a twinkle in her eye; I saw that twinkle in her eye the last time she told me she loved me."
Passed away, peacefully, in her sleep, but always surrounded by love, Gloria Verna (Malone) Durand a resident of Tillsonburg, in her 96th year. Born in Elk Lake, Ontario daughter of the late Frederick Malone and the late Leona (Villeneuve) Malone. Gloria was a wonderful wife and mother. Gloria was dedicated to her church and the C.W.L. She was a C.W.L. member for over 75 years serving as Past President and later C.W.L. Provincial Director and C.W.L. Provincial Representative Leader being recognized for following C.W.L. values of family, service and faith. Throughout her life Gloria was outgoing, and demonstrative and helpful to others. She made friends very easily and gave away her many “cookies made with care”. Gloria is predeceased by her beloved husband of 68 years Joseph Gabriel Durand (2013). Much loved mother and mother-in-law of: Elizabeth Anne Durand, London; Mary Gloria Durand (Jim DeMelo), Tillsonburg and her daughter Nina Gloria Anderson (Frank Mills); Joseph Anthony Durand, London; Anne Rochelle Hartley (Paul Winstanley-Hayes, Midland; and children: Derek Vincent Hartley (Genevieve Coburn), Dee Alicia Hartley (Chis Pomfret). Proud great grandmother of two great-grandsons: Colton Joseph Mills and Beau Robert Mills. Survived by a sister Anita Taylor (and late Bill), Haileybury. Predeceased by a young infant son Peter Joseph Durand (1953), three brothers and a sister.
A Complete Public Traditional Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, February 26th, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s R.C. Church, Tillsonburg, by Rev. Fr. Thomas Kuriacko. Friends, neighbours, and relatives are invited to attend public visitation on Friday, February 25th, 2022, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes Chapel, 262 Broadway Street, Tillsonburg. A C.W.L. Prayer Service will be held at 4:00 pm on Friday. All attendees must bring and wear a face mask and are asked to observe social distancing guidelines. Internment will take place later in the family plot at Avondale Cemetery, Stratford. Cherished memories, favourite photos, and memorial donations to the “Heart – Links” can be contributed via Gloria’s online tribute page at www.verhoevefuneralhomes.com or by cheque through the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes- Burial and Cremation Services Inc. (519)842-4238, entrusted with all funeral arrangements, with confidence.
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-EULOGY BY ANNE HARTLEY-
"My Mom was put on this earth to love and to bake cookies. She was a fantastic cookie baker and loved giving them away to family and friends; and complete strangers. Then my mom got on a loaf cake kick. My sisters lived together here in Tillsonburg for a few years and mom kept them supplied with those loaf cakes. Well, there were so many loaf cakes that they couldn’t possibly eat them all so they gave a lot of them away. Still every time they went to the freezer there were more loaf cakes. They felt they were experiencing their own miracle of the loaves and the fishes.
Mom was gregarious, perhaps the most extraverted person that I knew. She greeted everyone with a word or a smile whether walking on the street, in the mall or in a store. There wasn’t a baby within twenty feet that didn’t receive her attention. If you knew her; you were hugged.
Mom had a fondness for beer. On her 90th birthday we asked everyone to bring her a beer. We think there was another miracle because there wasn’t a duplicate among them. A few days before she went into palliative care, she told my sister that she thought she had drunk her last beer. That is a bittersweet memory for sure.
I remember when the census takers would come to the door and ask my mom her occupation, she would say “I’m a wife and a mother.” The census taker would then say ‘housewife’ and my mother would, “No, I’m a wife and a mother.” She used to tell me that all she ever wanted was to have children. She loved her children, 3 grandchildren and 2 greatgrandchildren.
Mom always had a twinkle in her eye; I saw that twinkle in her eye the last time she told me she loved me."