Obituary of Richard Labonne

Richard Labonne 1954 - 2017 Richard Labonne of Shawinigan, Quebec passed away peacefully at the age of 62 on August 21 in his home in Dawson Creek. Richard is predeceased by his parents Gabrielle Simard and Antonio Labonne, his sisters Jacqueline, Francoise, and Carolle, and his brother Robert. He is greatly missed by his wife Isabelle and his two sons Benoit and Francois. He is also missed by his brothers Andree, Gaetan, and Rene, and his sisters Micheline and Colette. He will be missed by many nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, and former coworkers. Richard was born on September 15, 1954 to Gabrielle and Antonio. He was the eighth of ten children with five sisters and four brothers. Richard loved to play sports from an early age. He played baseball for three years. Richard was a forward, number 10, playing hockey on outdoor rinks against the teachers and priests for many of his young years. He worked in the north of Quebec for Hydro Quebec on a James B project in camps with 20,000 other workers from 1974 to 1979. He took his money and went on a motorcycle trip for seven months with his guitar all across the USA and Mexico. In the late seventies, he hopped on the train for the west. Richard and Isabelle met in Grande Prairie in 1980. He worked as a heavy equipment operator on logging and pipeline. Richard worked for a few years building a brand new road from Chetwynd to what was to be Tumbler Ridge. He was very proud to have met with the Right Honourable Prime Minister Jean Chrtien on three occasions. Richard and Isabelle did lots of hunting and fishing before starting their family. He and Isabelle married on May 25, 1991. They had two loving sons, Benoit and Francois. Richard enjoyed watching his sons play hockey. He could be seen many cold winter nights soaking his backyard hockey rink for his sons. Richard worked as a Union Rep for the Labor's Union for fifteen years. He helped many local people find employment. The night shift workers remember having a random visit from their union rep in the middle of the night. This made the day shift jealous. On some days, Richard could have a lineup of workers waiting to chat with him outside his office in Prince George. He stood up for workers injustices and inequities and was always the first to help out when people were in need of a job or a place to stay. Richard loved people and people loved Richard. He had a warm generous personality that instantly drew people to him. Richard was a loving husband, a wonderful father, a generous friend, a devoted rep, and was truly a friendly guy. Richard would have been thrilled to be here, right now, in front of you all, and telling you one of his elaborate stories. Richard passed away peacefully in his home from his battle with cancer. The family wish all donations to go to the Canadian Cancer Society. The family would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Venter, Bergeron Funeral Home and all the homecare nurses and home support staff. Service 3:00 pm Thursday, August 24, 2017 Bergeron Chapel 10200-17th Street DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada V1G 4C2