1 February 1923 – 4 August 2016
Mona Rossignol, 93 year old long time resident of Pickering Ontario, passed away at her nursing home residence in Keswick, Ontario on Aug 4, 2016. Mona was born and raised in the beautiful market town of Salisbury, England on 1 February 1923. She was predeceased by her parents Edward King and Marcelle Fremaux (France), her sister Joscelyn (John) Gilder and brother David (Molly) and, in by her son Julien who died in 1976 at age twenty two. She leaves behind her children John (Dagny), Larry (Julia), Suzanne (Richard) and Lucienne (Philip). She was a caring grandmother to Dana, Lori, Marc, Alexander, Arthur, Réka, Lisa, Bill, Stephanie, Alicia and Tim as well as fifteen great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter. Mona also leaves behind many loving nieces and nephews and their families in England, Scotland, France and Northern Ontario. Mona was truly a product of another, gentler time. She did not drive a car and never in her life wore a pair of pants or shorts and last wore a swimsuit the day war was declared in August 1939. At that same time she had just completed high school and went immediately to help the war effort. At age eighteen, she went to work at the headquarters of Southern Command at Wilton, Wiltshire. She toiled there four long years doing many tasks included writing correspondence for General Burnett-Stewart (aide-de-camp to King George V). Mona was so dedicated to studying German language in her spare time that, following government fluency tests, was offered a position by the Foreign Office at Whitehall that required her to sign the Official Secrets Act. She was sent to Bletchley Park where, for the last eighteen months of the war, she worked in the linguistic section of the famous code breaking facility that helped end the war. After the war and a hastily arranged wedding Mona, became a WWII “war bride” after being swept off her feet by a dashing young French-Canadian paratrooper named Adrien Rossignol. Mona settled into her new country where she remained the rest of her life. After the birth of their five children Mona was left to raise her family alone. Her life was difficult but she managed to raise her children with determination, kindness and patience that was bolstered by her strong belief in the Roman Catholic faith. As her children grew to adulthood Mona began a twenty year career at McLean-Hunter publications. She pursued her intellectual interests with great passion and remarkable powers of concentration. Mona mastered sewing and four types of needlework, was an expert baker, grew her own vegetables. She loved studying languages, most recently tackling Russian. Her library of over two thousand books was dominated by gardening, needlework and a remarkable collection of over 800 cookbooks. As a long time member of her community in Bay Ridges and the Holy Redeemer Parish, Mona was blessed with the caring support of her neighbors and friends in the Pickering area. After a four year battle with age and time Mona finally took her last breath with her daughter Suzanne by her side. During those last years, despite great challenges with the complete loss of independence and autonomy, being wheelchair dependent and though almost totally blind and very hard of hearing, Mona’s intellectual functioning, curiosity and memory remained entirely intact to the very end. She continued to have a sense of humour and sharp wit until her last day. The family greatly appreciates the loving care provided by her companion Kathy Ferguson and all the fine staff at Cedarvale Lodge in Keswick, Ontario. Mona will be deeply missed. A Funeral Mass will be held at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church (796 Eyer Drive, Pickering) on Thursday, August 11 at 11 a.m. Interment to follow at Resurrection Cemetery (355 Taunton Road, Whitby) arrangements entrusted to McEachnie Funeral Home (905-428-8488) Online condolences may be signed at www.mceachniefuneral.ca

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