Renee was born February 24, 1924 to Camille and Yvonne Mahy at a farm house in Manitoba. At age 3, the family moved to Dollard, Saskatchewan. There, she was raised in a two-room shack with her parents, 5 sisters and paternal grandmother.
Living in the Pallister Triangle, she walked 2 ½ miles to school, surviving the dust bowl and many other hardships of the ‘dirty 30’s’.
In 1939, age 15, Renee and her family moved to Victoria, BC where she worked at the Malahat Lookout and St. Joseph’s hospital.
Two years later, in 1941, she married Lucien Billard. He brought her back to south-west Saskatchewan, to a ranch/farm in South Fork valley near East End. She had a wonderful marriage, worked hard on their ranch while raising 3 children. She joined the Royal Purple, square danced, traveled, knitted, sewed, picked berries in the coulees, canned and processed produce from her large garden.
In 1975 Lucien and Renee retired in Victoria. However, in 1978, after 37 years of marriage, Lucien passed away from cancer.
While widowed, Renee joined the heritage society – participating in many fashion shows, hiked, camped, fished, skied and even accomplished a Victoria Marathon. She traveled extensively in Europe, Morocco, England, USA and throughout Canada. To celebrate her 80th birthday, she flew to Doha in the State of Qatar to visit her daughter and Son-in-Law.
On Tuesday 9th April 2019, aged 95, Renee passed away at Ayre Manor Care Facility, Sooke, BC.
She is survived by 2 children Irene (Eric), David (Rhonda), 8 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and 2 foster great grandchildren.
She is predeceased by her husband, Lucien Billard (1978) and son, Richard Billard (2018).
A celebration of life will take place at 1:30 pm, on Tuesday, 16 April 2019 at Royal Oak Burial Park Garden, 4673 Falaise Drive, Victoria, BC, V8Y 1B4, Tel: 250 658 5621.
Renee’s ashes will be buried next to her husband at the Grove of Remembrance, Plot C 706, at a later date.
Special thanks to: Staff at Ayre Manor Lodge, Pacific Coast Cremation and Royal Oak Burial Park.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the charity of your choice would be appreciated.
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Gayle Cole Lewis Middleto
Irene, David and families
My prayer thoughts are with you all. A mother is missed forever as well as a grand/great-grandmere.
Your mom was ‘Aunt Renee to me and my siblings as kids. Our families spent Christmas Eve together for many years as we grew up on the prairies. She was a dear friend to me and we did many things together once we both moved to the Island. I will miss her always.