Obituary of Lucille Louise Van Tassel

Lucille Van Tassel, a long time resident of Dawson Creek, B.C. passed away on Sunday, April 16, 2017 in Dawson Creek at the age of 84 years. Lucille Louise Lafond was born to Louisa and Floribert Lafond on June 22, 1932. Lucille was one of the 1108 babies delivered by her grandmother, who was a midwife in the Morinville area. Lucille was the sixth of seven children born in the Lafond family. Born and raised in Morinville, Alberta Lucille was a hard worker from a young age. She spent many hours helping her dad with the horses, helping her mother and grandmother around the house, and waitressing in her teen years. One of Lucille's favourite childhood memories was going into Edmonton every Saturday with her dad and sisters, Rolly and Laurette. She recalls their dad giving them a dime to spend on popcorn and a movie. In September of 1950, 17 year old Lucille was invited to meet up with some friends at a coffee shop in Morinville. It was here that she met her future husband, Jim. They were later married in Morinville on January 22, 1951 and were married for 56 years before Jim's passing in 2007. Family was absolutely everything to Lucille. She was meant to be a mother and was fortunate enough to welcome three wonderful children into the world: Neil, Wayne, and Allan. She was so incredibly proud of each one of them, and their many accomplishments. Out of all of their many successes, she was most proud of the husbands and fathers that they had become; always putting family first. While still living in the Edmonton area, shortly after Neil was born, the family took a trip to Dawson Creek to visit Lucille's brother Philip. While in Dawson, Lucille's other brother, Joe, asked Jim if he could help out at Lawrence's for a few days. 65 years later, Lucille still called Dawson home. "Small, but feisty" was always a phrase that the family used to describe Lucille. There was not much that she didn't do or tried to tackle. It was not uncommon to see Lucille helping Jim carry heavy items, shingling roofs, building houses, fixing vehicles, dry walling, or butchering a moose. She was also quite talented at knitting, making many sweater outfits for the new babies in the family, as well as kitting toques that she donated to new babies in the hospital. Working in her garden was something she truly enjoyed over the past few years. Food was never an issue at Lucille's house. Although she was never a fan of cooking, she had a talent of producing vast amounts of food in a short time. The pressure cooker was no doubt an asset in her kitchen. For Christmas Day, it was a regular occurrence for her to make a huge breakfast, have a full turkey dinner for lunch, and then cook another turkey for supper, since some family was not able to make it for lunch. Lucille could not pass up a good sale, even if she really didn't need the item on "special". Buying in bulk was even more exciting for her; if one was good, thirty of something had to be better. One of Lucille's greatest joys were the newest generation of kids born into the family; Liam, Ethan, Kasey, Ben, Elizabeth, James, and Abby. There was not a thing that she wouldn't do for these kids. She came to every soccer game, basketball game, volleyball game, Christmas concert, awards ceremony, and dance recital. She spent countless hours looking after all of the kids while their parents were at work, or picking them up after school. And as she always said, "I loved every minute of it." The Van Tassel family was always filled with great memories, generally along with a great deal of chaos. Perhaps the best location for all of these memories was the cabin at Swan Lake. It was a place that Lucille could have all of her kids together "under one roof". Lucille was extremely social and loved visiting. Whether going on fishing trips, camping at the lake, or visiting with the ladies in her apartment, her days always involved coffee with someone at some point. To those who knew Lucille, they knew a loving wife of 56 years, a mother whose love knew no bounds, a grandmother who would walk to the end of the earth for you, a great grandmother who was a strong support system in your life, and a friend who couldn't wait to discuss the daily gossip. A Visitation was held on Monday, May 1, 2017 at 7:00 PM from Reynars Funeral Chapel. A Funeral Service was held on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 2:00 PM from Reynars Funeral Chapel. Father Louis Kwena officiated. Interment followed in the Brookside Cemetery. For friends so wishing, donations may be made in memory of Lucille to the Canadian Cancer Society - British Columbia and Yukon Division, 565 West 10 Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4J4. Very Respectfully Reynars Funeral Home & Crematorium Visitation 7:00 pm Monday, May 1, 2017 Reynars Funeral Home & Crematorium 1300 102nd Avenue Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada V1G 2C6 Funeral Service 2:00 pm Tuesday, May 2, 2017 Reynars Funeral Home & Crematorium 1300 102nd Avenue Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada V1G 2C6