Dedicated, proud parents honoured

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/12/2010 (5092 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MARCEL and Brenda Dubois were remembered as proud and dedicated parents at their funeral on the weekend.

About 800 people crammed into a convention room at the Victoria Inn to reminisce about the couple, who died in an automobile accident two weeks ago on a Saskatchewan highway while driving four of their sons home from a taekwondo tournament.

“They were terrific parents,” Jordan Dubois said after the Saturday service. “I hope everybody has parents as good as them.”

Jordan, the eldest of five sons at 19 years old, was in Winnipeg at the time of the accident. He was joined at the funeral by three of his brothers, Michael, Matthew and Dustin, who are all recovering from injuries. Brother Jarret remained in a Winnipeg hospital in critical condition. The family said doctors have told them he’ll be paralyzed from the waist down.

Jordan said he expected quite a few people to attend the funeral, but he was surprised by the turnout.

“My mom and dad were fairly popular in the community. I didn’t expect this many people. It’s pretty amazing,” he said.

Lee-Ann Matthews, Brenda’s sister, recalled their last girls’ weekend with friends last June at Birds Hill Park, and said she’ll miss the annual camping trip. Matthews said it’s tough for her to think about Brenda or Marcel without the other because they had been a couple since she was a little girl.

“I’ve had my cries. A lot of it has been at home, alone. I’m trying to be strong for the boys,” she said. “Our family is so thankful for all of the support. It’s been breathtaking.”

Matthews said the five boys are “very strong” and are coping as well as could be hoped.

“Because we’ve had so many people around, they haven’t had a chance to realize what’s going on. Once everything calms down, they’ll have time to sit down and grieve for their parents,” she said.

Jordan said a lifetime of looking after his younger brothers has prepared him to be their main caregiver.

“It’s not going to be any different. Growing up with them I was always taking care of them. There will be a few more things on the to-do list,” he said.

John Lennon’s Imagine and November Rain by Guns N’ Roses, one of Marcel’s favourite bands, played in the background as mourners moved past a joint urn, flowers and photographs of the couple at the front of the room on their way to the reception.

Matthews said the entire service was videotaped so Jarret could watch it later.

A digital-photo montage projected on a pair of screens showed Brenda and Marcel Dubois in Halloween costumes, with Santa Claus, fishing, laughing and clowning around. Most of all, it showed seven members of a happy family.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca