Landry, Julie Landry-Corcoran

LANDRY – Julie Landry-Corcoran was born on March 24, 1931 in Saint John, New Brunswick to Adam and Philomene Landry. She departed this life on November 4, 2015 in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
She was the youngest of 10 children and was predeceased by her parents and all her siblings: Lena (Earnest Daigle); Henry (Mary) Landry; Homer (Doris) Landry; Marie (Bruce) Woods; Delphine (Bill) Bosworth; Rita (Bernie) Reynolds; Irene (Louis) Graham; Marian Landry; (infant) Theresa Landry.
Mom was especially close to her sister, Rita. As small children, Mom and Rita picked blueberries together in the woods to sell at the market, helping to provide for the family, as they were very poor. As adults, they remained close even though they lived far apart.  They would travel to visit each other between Saskatchewan and New Brunswick when they could. When they were together, Mom blossomed and they did fun things together that generally got Mom into trouble at home.  Like the time Mom came home from New Brunswick with bright red hair. Dad disapproved of that and Donna, age six, didn’t recognize her and was scared of her.
After Mom was in Grade 4, her family moved and, as there was no access to a Catholic school, she was not allowed to stay in school.  Leaving school was one of the great disappointments of her life. As a very young girl, she went to work.  Her first job was in a factory stacking soup cans. After that she operated a steam mangle in a commercial laundry, a daunting task for a little girl, but Mom was strong. At age 13, Mom’s parents sent her to Toronto to live with her sister Marie in a rooming house. Mom worked in Toronto until 1953 when at age 22 she met and married Dad.
They moved to Saskatchewan in 1954 and Mom ran the lunch counter in Kincaid at Dad’s service station. In 1963, they moved to the farm south of Kincaid.  Mom worked hard on the farm raising us kids. She always had a big garden and canned produce like crazy every year. She said her favourite job on the farm was baking buns. We all remember how delicious they were. She loved the baby ducks, chickens and turkeys she raised. She loved haying time with the smell of new mown hay. She loved Auntie Rita’s visits in harvest time.
There were other aspects of farm life that she didn’t like. She was afraid of the bulls and wouldn’t go into the corral to feed them. She refused to milk the cow.  As a girl from the city who became a farm wife, she was inexperienced in some areas, but she was hardworking, never gave up and did her best with limited resources and help. Her long-time friend, Alice, befriended her and helped her greatly throughout Mom’s years in Saskatchewan. They often painted together. We would tease Mom that if she continued painting so often, the walls would end up touching.
Mom was outstanding in her capacity to help others. She drove her good friend and neighbour, John Lien, to town weekly for years to get his groceries. Then, when John was too sick to stay in his own home, she moved him home to care for him until he finally went to the hospital.
In 1990, Mom left the farm and experienced a great sense of freedom to travel and do things on her own and to play bingo as often as she wanted to.  She loved bingo and hated to miss it to the point that she once got her son Dave to drive for miles to get her to bingo in the Hat.
After leaving the farm, Mom lived in Assiniboia and was active in the church and CWL. She moved to New Brunswick and lived next door to her closest sister, Rita.
She moved back to Saskatchewan, to Maple Creek and married Bud (Frank) Drader in 2001.  They were active in the St Lawrence Parish and church Live-ins in Red Deer, Alberta.  They were regulars at the seniors’ dances. Mom so loved music and singing socials and dancing. Sadly, Bud passed away in 2003.Mom then moved back to St John to the Chateau de Champlain Seniors Apartments. After a while, she met a special friend there and she and Wes had fun dancing and singing. Walking in the King’s Square Market and travelling on bus tours in the Maritimes.
After Wes passed away, Mom returned West to live in Alberta at St Joseph’s home in Medicine Hat.
She went back down East one final time for a visit, but had a stroke there.  After that she lived with Barb and David in Maple Creek. After the stroke, she was still healthy enough to walk within sight of our house. She would walk with our cat Pearl. Mom and Pearl bonded and Pearl would not let Mom take a walk without her.
Even post-stroke, Mom was determined to achieve her lifelong dream of learning to play the piano.  She practised diligently and learned to play Jingle Bells, which is a major accomplishment for someone who is stroke-impaired.
Mom still loved to travel, so Barb and David took her to Las Vegas and to the Canadian Cup Curling. She always said how much she liked Kevin Martin, but disliked Russ aka Glen Howard.
Mom’s greatest joy was her children and grandchildren. She is predeceased by her son and our brother, Mike, in 1977. Mom was also predeceased by her great grandson William Calliou in 2008.
The remaining four of us are: son; David (Dorrie) Corcoran, daughter; Donna (Patrick) Gilham, daughter; Barb (David) Stabbler, and son Patrick Corcoran. Her grandchildren and great grandchildren are: Ryan (Sherease) Corcoran and their children Tasia, Citra and Jixxr; Mandy (TJ) Girling; Danielle (Sebastien) Cailliau and their children Theresa, Lex and Callie; Michael (Kim) Gilham; Chelsea (Paul) Selman; Kaley Gilham; Zachary Gilham; Jonah Gilham; Christopher Gilham; Corey Thomas; Samantha (Nick) Theissen; Lucas (Amy) Thomas and their children Elyse and Natalie; Jacob Thomas; Riley (Leah) Thomas; Jolene (Chris) Rich and their children Isaac, Alex and Ryan; Amy Stabbler; Chance Corcoran.
Mom had a very loving and kind nature with absolutely no malice in her soul and very strong faith. The night she died, she didn’t let go until after her children played The Old Rugged Cross for her. She went to heaven in peace. We love you Mom. God Bless.
A funeral service was held on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at the St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Maple Creek, with Father Clement Nwankwo officiating. Donations may be made to the Catholic Women’s League. Binkley’s Funeral Service Maple Creek & Leader in charge of arrangements, 306-662-2292.

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