With great sadness the family announces the death of John Rene Bourque at the age of 83. Beloved father of Rena Bourque and the late Kenneth James Bourque (1996). Rene passed away at the Temiskaming Hospital Monday, August 1, 2022. (The day that would have been his 56th wedding anniversary with his wife, the late Eileen Marion (nee Evans) Bourque who passed away August 13,2021). He had been hospitalized 3mths after his wife’s passing, due to previous health conditions worsening. Although the staff were very kind, patient, & diligent with their health care, they could not heal his broken heart. Rene was born in Plymouth, Nova Scotia March 16, 1939, to the late John Levi Bourque and Sarah Adeline (nee Muise) Bourque. Growing up in a small village, Rene learned to appreciate what family & friends were all about especially when both he & his father got sick with Tuberculosis. Rene had to stay indoors for over a year recuperating. A very difficult time for a boy of eight, especially since his father had passed away from the disease. Living so close to the seashore, Rene spent as much time outside as he could with his friends, later as a teenager he, like all the young lads either got a job pulling seaweed off rocks at low tide or in the fish plant. Rene loved his home in the Maritimes, but at the age of 20 he decided to move to Ontario with some of his childhood friends to find new adventures. He arrived in Brampton with nothing but a car, a suitcase & some pocket money. He started pumping gas & fixing vehicles at Worthy’s service station, worked a short while at De Havilland Airplanes, then he got on at Houston shoes where he met the love of his life. They headed west to Victoria where they married, then moved to Ucluelet, BC where Rene got a job in the logging industry as a Log Driver (standing on the logs, rolling/turning/moving them in the water using a long-hooked pike). Rene had a close call when he fell in the water & nearly got crushed & almost drowned, he decided he had enough of life on the west coast & his wife Eileen was homesick. They moved back to Brampton for a few months then Rene’s father-in-law called from Northern Ontario offering him a job working for Bucke Township. They moved back to his wife’s hometown of North Cobalt to raise their family, Rene started working with his father-in-law, who also got him involved in volunteering for Bucke Fire Department. In 1971 when Bucke Township was amalgamated with Haileybury Rene was still a strapping young man, so he decided to stay on with the new Town of Haileybury and the Haileybury Fire Department. He worked for the Town until an injury at work disabled him from performing his duties, so he had to take an early retirement. In recognition of his services with the fire department, he also received The Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal for 20 years of loyal and meritorious service to public security in Canada. Rene also bartended at the Fraser in Cobalt for a short period until he became more involved with the community, joining a bowling league and a baseball team, playing on both teams for many years. Rene also loved camping and fishing, one of his proudest moments was surprising the family with a pop-up camper. They would spend most summers at Bucke Park, but he would take his family on road trips to different Provincial Parks including Algonquin, Arrowhead and Martin River and of course back home to Nova Scotia. One summer he had to work the weigh scales in a local gravel pit so with the permission of his boss, Rene decided to bring the family on another adventure & brought the camper to the pit back in the sand dunes. Later in life, once his kids were teenagers, he bought a small motorhome and could be found many weekends at the Lower Notch down Silver Centre or at the Montreal River down Mowat Landing Rd camping & fishing with his wife.
Rene enjoyed living the last few years with the love of his life, living off the grid, splitting wood for winter, sitting by the campfire with a beer in hand and his faithful companion, Whisper the dog by his side, who he referred to as his chum. In the winter he enjoyed doing puzzles or sitting quietly by the window watching the many birds that flocked to their bird feeders. He often teased the PSW’s who went to his home, saying to them they were there to torture him, but he looked forward to seeing them as they never made him feel like a burden or a chore, he enjoyed these 4 ladies in particular Patricia D, Elizabeth F, Bonnie A and Becky S, and to the young man Will who was there for a short while.
Thank you to the staff at Temiskaming hospital who made his time in long-term care more bearable, who made him smile or were so patient with him when he just couldn’t or when dementia was clouding his personality on any given day. He loved to tease & poke fun, and although with age his body slowed him down, his mind was still sharp as ever, never losing his playful side. An endearment we all loved & will miss considerably. Predeceased by his parents; his wife Eileen, his son Kenny Kid; his siblings Madeline (late Amboise) Mallett; Frances (late Glen) Pittman; George Bourque; Edward Bourque; Raymond (Caroline) Bourque; Emilie Bourque. Left to mourn is his daughter Rena Bourque of North Cobalt. His brothers Eugene (Catherine) Bourque; and Andrew (Lorna Crosby) Bourque; his sisters Genevieve Hayes (George Loranger); Ann (Willard) Doucette; Theresa Leblanc (Vic Doucette); His childhood friend who was like a brother, Walter Boudreau (Uncle Whopper); his brother-in-law Wilbert (Phyllis) Cowton (who was also like a brother); his sister-in-law Judy White; many nieces & nephews.
The quiet man that he was, he didn’t always tell the people close to him what they meant to him, how he appreciated the things they did to help him in his aging years, especially once he lost his wife. Rene did tell his daughter how he appreciated those who supported him & was happy for their company when he was feeling lost. Particularly his nephew Wayne Evans, who went above and beyond what would be expected from a nephew. On behalf of my father, Rene, I would like to thank these family members for your support, love, guidance, and selflessness to help whenever it was needed: his nieces Helen (Dwayne)Mills; Sandra (Chuck) Williamson; nephews Edward (Rachel Lee) Evans; James (Beth) Evans; Ernie (Rhonda) White; Walter Bourdreau; Aunt Phyllis Cowton; Marjorie Neill; and Patricia Oblin; and to Uncle Whip who vigilantly stayed by dads side the last few weeks he was with us, along with Helen who made sure I wasn’t alone in the hospital; & to his nephew Tim Cowton, who was with me those final moments when dad joined mom and Kenny at that big campsite over the horizon.
In keeping with his wishes, arrangements were entrusted to Buffam Leveille Funeral Home, cremation took place at Lakeview Crematorium, Haileybury. I would like family & friends to join me for a graveside service at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Haileybury on Friday, September 30th, 2022, at 1:00 pm where my parents, Rene & Eileen will be put to rest with my brother Kenny. Following the service, A Celebration of Life for will take place from 2-5 at Riverside Place.