Doreen Clarey Holmes

With belief in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting, her family announces the death of DOREEN CLAREY HOLMES at La Maison des Collines on October 10, 2025, at the age of 95. She is survived by her loving children and her amazing grandchildren: Mary Holmes, Bill Burke and their son, Jason Burke (Ariane Renaud); Gerald Holmes, Janet Moore and their sons, Daniel Holmes (Mary Ellen Gleeson), Patrick Holmes (Laurence Brossard) and Sean Holmes (Catherine Rousseau); Stephen Holmes, Joanne Lahaie and their daughter, Jessica Holmes (Peter Quigley); and John Holmes and his son, last but not least grandchild, William Holmes.

Doreen is predeceased by her beloved husband, Ruggles (Ruggie) Holmes, who she married on September 29, 1954, in St. Isidore’s Parish, South March (Kanata) and then settled on Ruggie’s family farm in Wilson’s Corners, Quebec. Also, by her parents, Eva Nash and Willie Clarey, her parents-in-law, Lena Holmes and Stephen Holmes and all her sisters and their spouses and all her in-laws and their spouses.

In her heyday, she was very much a people person and made friends wherever she went.

She also loved to dance (“over the left and circle four” in St. Elizabeth Parish Hall), play euchre (a favourite lucky partner), knit (socks with heels and cable stitch mitts), bake (the lemon pies! the date squares!), garden (African violets on the farm windowsills) and was always ready and willing to support family and friends in need through prayer or by keeping a candle lit for their intentions. Working in the kitchen, alongside other parish women, at the annual Cantley Picnic was one of the highlights of her summers.

Thanks to the family and friends in her phone circle whose friendship sustained her in her later years. Thank you to everyone who visited or called her or about her in the Gatineau Hospital and at La Maison des Collines in Wakefield, it was a big boost to Doreen to know you were thinking of her.

Thank you to the late Dr. Andreas Nuyens, the late Dr. James Dickson, Dr. Paul Lebrun, the late Dr. Joel Niznick and Dr. John Fulop for their kind and patient care during her lifetime. A final big thank you to the doctors, nurses and staff of La Maison des Collines who made her final days comfortable and calm. We are grateful to have this facility and these dedicated people in our community.

A visitation will be held at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral Home, 403 Richmond Road, Ottawa, on Friday, October 24 from 2-4 and 5-7 p.m. Her funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, October 25, at 11 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Church, 47 St. Elizabeth Road, Cantley, QC, followed by interment in the parish cemetery and a reception in the parish hall.