RIORDON, NETTIE
January 29, 1914 – June 19, 2015
Nettie had many close calls in the past five years. Each time it seemed that her time had come. We would rush to her side, willing her to stay a little bit longer and in a day or two she would wake up smiling, thrilled to be back among loving family and wonderful caregivers at the Foyer Notre Dame-de-Lourdes (FNDL) - her home, and ours too in a way, for the past five years.
She had an amazing will to live. Given her druthers, she would have stayed forever, taking care of each new generation of young ones. We too would have had her linger longer, giving us her unconditional love for the rest of time, but at 1:20 am on Friday, June 19th, at the age of 101, she soared away ‘in the arms of the angels’.
It was a peaceful departure, nestled among family and caregivers in the Palliative Care unit at the FNDL. According to son Tom and granddaughter Sonya, she took a final breath, sighed, and, in her usual quiet fashion, just took off through the window, opened earlier by granddaughter Jillian so her spirit could escape. This occurred at the very moment Tom was showing Sonya a photo taken from his kitchen window, sunset over Pokeshaw Island. It was a beautiful and fitting image. She loved her Pokeshaw community, living there, from 1940 until 2010, in the ‘house that Tom built’.
Life had many sorrows. She was pre-deceased by her husband Tom Riordon (d. 1961) of Pokeshaw, and parents Emmanuel and Angelina Quinn (d. 1983, 1969) of Bathurst, sisters Bernadette, Jane, Irene, Gertie, Nina, and Mary (d. 1913, 1936, 1976, 1985, 2009, 2009), and brothers Arthur, George and Leo (d. 1911, 1962, 1992).
Life also had much joy. She is survived by: brother, Ernie Quinn, of London, Ontario; sons Tom (Rolande), George (Jeanne Mance), and Bernard (Lillian) of Pokeshaw, adopted son Leo (Claudette) of Clifton, and daughters Mary Jane (John) of Maple Ridge, BC, and Katherine (Morven) of Halifax of Bathurst; 13 grandchildren Cynthia, Cathy, Debbie, Sonya, Karolyn, Darren, Patrick, Wendy, Jennifer, Melissa, Thomas, Edward, and Jillian; 18 great-grandchildren Jessica, Joshua, Luc, Thomas, Alexandra, James, Lauren, Patrick, Sienna, Sophia, Stephen, Aeryn, Silas, Leo, Angus, Jacob, Zoey, and Owen; many, many Riordon / Quinn nieces and nephews (she loved them all). She will be missed by her caregivers in Pokeshaw and Bathurst, Laurette Beaulieu, Viola Riordon and all the special staff at Foyer Notre Dame de Lourdes.
She was a quiet soul … a gentle person with an iron will (the word ‘no’ did not exist in her vocabulary), a rare person who always had room in her heart and in her home for one more. Her love knew no bounds.
To bid her a final farewell, please join us for her wake at the LeGresley Funeral home in Grand Anse on Monday, June 22nd, from 2 to 4 pm, and 7 to 9 pm. Her funeral will be held at the St Simon and St Jude Church in Grand Anse at 11 am on Tuesday, June 23rd.