After a life well-lived, Rosemary Dunn-Lafrenière passed away peacefully at 96 years of age on September 26, 2025.
Daughter of the late James Dunn and the late Mary (Raftis) Dunn, she was the devoted mother of seven: Paul (Sophie), Pat (Kim), Louise, Ken (France), Mary (Aidan), Aline (Bernard), and Lorraine; grandmother to twenty-one; and great-grandmother to two. She is reunited with her beloved husband, the late Guy Pierre Joseph Lafrenière.
Rosemary’s life was defined by love, laughter, learning, and literature. Born in 1929, she was very much a product of her generation, yet in so many ways she defied it. With quiet determination, she earned a degree in Literature from Carleton University — often studying at the dining room table of the family’s modest bungalow, while her children created both havoc and joy around her.
She had a steadfast belief in community, devoting time to many causes including visiting seniors at the Perley, where, in a poignant twist, her husband would later spend his final years until 2021. Brave beyond measure, in 1984 she took to the skies, flying west over the Rockies with Guy as pilot in a small Cessna. And in a spirit of independence, she went on to earn her driver’s license well into her 50s and proudly bought her own car.
Her humour was infectious: her unforgettable Christmas charades performance as “Evil Knievel” may have failed miserably, but it surely deserved Oscar for best comedy.
She loved to take walks and cross-country ski, and often brought along Boots, the family dog. In her final years, she kept the same discipline and walked daily.
With an insatiable love of books, Rosemary continued reading and learning until the day before she entered hospital. She leaves behind volumes of written memories for her family to treasure.
Rosemary was the last of her family of 9 children — rising from her beginnings as a fragile little girl whose home was on Frizzell Avenue in Toronto to a matriarch whose wisdom, courage, and wit enriched all who knew her.
She often quoted Wadsworth Longfellow to her children:
“Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.”
How we long to hear her voice recite those lines once more.
Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will forever carry her spirit forward.
A private funeral will be held.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Perleyhealthfoundation.ca; or, to the foundationsanteoutaouais.ca
