In Loving Memory of Yvonne Laurencia Robitaille

Yvonne Laurencia Robitaille, age 79, passed away on March 24, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was born on September 2, 1942 in Hull, Quebec, Canada to Georges Lefebvre and Yvette Belanger. Yvonne met her one and only husband Gerald Robitaille when they were both around age 19.  They met through mutual friends, in Hull, Quebec, Canada.  The two families actually lived about a mile apart on the same street.  Kismet!  They married on April 23, 1962, and their union stood the test of time, as they would have been celebrating their 60th Anniversary this April.

Yvonne was a military wife (a full time job) and a house wife until her two daughters started high school in Toronto in the 1980s.  At that time she started working as an administrative assistant for Sears in downtown Toronto.  She continued in office work when Gerald was stationed in Ottawa, Canada, and then Yvonne and Gerald moved to Colorado Springs.  Yvonne played a major supportive role to all the Canadian military coming and going at Peterson AFB, as the administrate assistant and right hand to the Canadian Forces Commanding Officer at the Canadian Support Unit.  Yvonne worked in this role for over ten years, and touched the lives of so many Canadian military members and their families.  After her retirement she volunteered for several years with Silver Key Senior Services and continued to help and support the Colorado Springs community.

She had a zeal for life, travel, good food, and good wine.  While living in Europe the whole family took up skiing, and this was a favorite activity of Yvonne’s for years, and continued through her years living in Colorado.  Having lived in Europe for four years, travelling and soaking up all the culture in different countries was also a passion for Yvonne.  Some of you may not know, that she was very artistic and loved to paint and draw.  She was also an excellent seamstress, and sewed clothing for the girls throughout their childhood, sewed doll clothing (Mimi and Joanne had the most fashionable and best-dressed Barbies), and sewed many a formal dress for special events for herself and her daughters.  Yvonne loved to play bridge throughout her adult life, and even in the past year or two, she had a group of women she still met with regularly for bridge.  Yvonne also had a joy for entertaining, and had years of opportunities to throw fabulous parties for the military community.  Yvonne and Gerald held annual Christmas parties with the Canadian military in Colorado crew, and these parties were always supplemented by her daughter Mimi’s work crew from Old Chicago.  She always had an appreciation for the “young people”, and anyone was welcome under her roof and at her table.  Through the years, her home was always open to any and all out-of-town visitors. She had boundless hospitality.  Everyone who met her felt welcome. Some of you may know that “Frog” is a term for a French person.  Yvonne had an extensive collection of frogs, and since everyone knew this, it was a popular hostess gift.  She had frogs from all over the world, all shapes, sizes, and colours; to include frogs from all over Europe, North America, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore.  Christmas brought out Yvonne’s inner Martha Stewart, and every room had its dedicated Christmas decorations, and the living room always had the well-appointed Christmas tree.  As with the frogs, she had Christmas décor and ornaments from all over the world.

Yvonne was a mother and wife before all else, and Gerald was quick to note, “She did a great job raising her kids”.  Her daughters and husband wanted for nothing through the years.  This extended to Mimi and Joanne’s friends, and all were taken care of as though they were family too.  Her grandchildren gave her the nickname Mémé, when they were very young, since Mémère in French is a fond term for grandmother.  The nickname stuck and eventually that is what everyone who knew her called her. Yvonne had a lifelong love of animals. Throughout her adult life; there were many family cats, and two significant family dogs; Snoopy who lived for 20 years and went Canada, Europe, and back to Canada, and her current dog Nemo who has lived his 12 years in Colorado Springs.  She loved to see the pictures and hear about the new family dogs in her daughter Joanne’s home in Toronto.  And she was always eager to meet any new foster kittens residing with her daughter Mimi, and if she had it her way, she would have had a couple of cats along with Nemo.

Yvonne is preceded in death by both of her parents; Georges Lefèbvre and Yvette Bélanger, and her stepfather Alexis Legault, as well as her younger brother Armand Legault. She is survived by her husband Gerald Robitaille, and two daughters Mimi Robitaille and Joanne Petrasso.  She is also survived by her son-in-law Guiseppe Petrasso, and her two grandchildren Brandon Petrasso (and his partner Melinda), and Brianna Petrasso (and her partner Jack).

The family is asking that in lieu of flowers you make a donation in Yvonne’s name to either a breast cancer charity or your favourite animal rescue/shelter.