It is with deep sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Rita Yolande Buckley (Yolande), in her 98th year, at the Ottawa Hospital (Civic Campus) on June 29, 2024. Yolande was born in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, September 26, 1926 and due to the unfortunate and premature passing of her mother, spent her childhood with her sisters in a boarding school run by the Carmelite nuns at Trois Rivières - Cap-de-Madeleine and later at Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval. She would often talk about her pleasant memories at the school and how she would try to pull impish pranks on the nuns at the convent. She eventually moved to Montreal where she met her husband-to-be, who had been in pilot training for the RAF. After relentlessly pursuing her, he won over her heart, dancing to the song “Sentimental Journey.” They married on June 7, 1947. After her husband earned his degree in Engineering at McGill, they moved to Ottawa where they settled.
Yolande is predeceased by her husband, Lloyd, her parents, Patrick Buckley and Aurea Ricard, her stepmother, Nellie Buckley, and two sisters, Réjeanne and Carmen. She is survived by her two daughters, Nancy Poichuk and Joyce Buckley, her loving sons, Leslie (Susan Winger), Scott, Craig and Colin (Tracey), and her grandchildren Erin, Kathleen, Sean, Yolanda, Morgan, Jolene, Jasmine, Zachary, Eve, Ashley and Daniel.
A dedicated mother and devoted wife, Yolande sacrificed her life to support her husband and children through their education and careers; Joyce becoming a medical doctor, Nancy, a nurse, Leslie receiving an MA in Criminology, Craig obtaining a P.Eng, Colin working in information technology and Scott becoming a Caregiver. Her love, devotion and selflessness for family – to her husband and each of her children was priority. Regardless of circumstance, she was always there for her family and maintained her love for each and every one of them. She will be sadly missed.
Family will receive Friends and Guests for a time of visitation on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre, 280 Beechwood Ave, Ottawa from 12:00pm-1:00pm. A funeral service will be held at 1:00pm, with a reception to follow from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.