GONTARD, Gladys Jane (née Way) – March 10, 1931 - July 3, 2009. It is with great sadness that Jane’s family announces her passing. Jane died on July 3, 2009, at the Elisabeth Bruyère Health Centre in Ottawa after a sudden and brief illness. Jane was born in Savage Cove, N.L., and spent her youth living in the Straits. She worked as a teacher and a lab technician, then in her 30s met her husband-to-be, François, and began her most important job: mother. After her children became adults, she went to Carleton University to complete her Bachelor of Arts that she began decades before in Montréal at Sir George University. She graduated in 1999. Jane’s great loves were her family and her garden: thick batches of peonies lit up her front yard every June. Jane is predeceased by her parents, Stephen and Ann Maria Way (White) and deeply missed by her sisters Mary Hunt (Mount Pearl, N.L.) and Marion Coombs (Plum Point, N.L.) and their families. She is greatly missed by husband François, daughters Denise Gontard Cartwright (Tim), and Lily (Jon), stepchildren Florence Gazzini-Gontard (Pierre), Xavier (Florence) and Agnès, granddaughter Samantha, step-grandchildren Yannick, Mélanie, Victoria, Benjamin and Léah and the most recent addition to the family, great-granddaughter Scarlette Rose.


Friends may call at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 403 Richmond Road, Ottawa, Ontario, on Saturday, July 18, 2009 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. A celebration of life will be held in the chapel at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the palliative care unit at the Elisabeth Bruyère Health Centre or a charity of your choice. Jane’s family wishes to thank the wonderful staff of 5NW at the Ottawa Hospital General Campus and at the palliative-care unit of Elisabeth Bruyère Health Centre: their loving care made Jane’s final weeks peaceful and comfortable, for her and her family. Condolences, donations or tributes may be made at www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com.