Obituary of JEANNETTE SANSREGRET

Suddenly, on December 31, 2016, one day before her 79th birthday, Jeannette Sansregret (nee Zahirney) died at her home in Winnipeg. She was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, Louis Joseph Charles Alphonsus Sansregret, her parents Michael and Mary Zahirney, her two brothers, Peter and Billy and her beloved grandson Max. She leaves to mourn her siblings: George Zahirney (Phyllis) and Annette Bowman; children; Celeste, Napoleon (Catherine Anne Collins) Lisa (Brian Duffy) and Amanda (Brian Sexton), her grandchildren; Reuel (Hayley Chapman), Rachel, Nicholas and Amanda Catherine; and great-grandchildren, Lily and Mackenzie, as well as many extended family members and friends. In addition to her role as the proud matriarch of a large family, Jeannette was for many years a volunteer at both St. Alphonsus School and St. Alphonsus Church. At St. Mary’s Academy she taught chess and as part of the Mothers’ Guild helped to start International Day, a tradition that continues at the school to the present day. She worked at James Richardson and Sons before her marriage and then again, off and on, in retail, in the ‘70s at Desart, The Black Sheep Boutique, Clifford’s, Eaton’s and her favourite, The University of Winnipeg Bookstore, a job she loved and which had the benefit of a discount on books, as she loved to read. Still her family and her art were always her focus. She was endlessly creative: painting, sewing, knitting, crocheting and drawing. She was a skilled tailor and dressmaker, making costumes and many of her children’s outfits that we were alternately delighted and horrified to wear. Painting was her real passion. She began in her early 30s, during a long hospital confinement and continued at Forum Art Studio where she both studied and held studio space for more than 30 years. Her artwork ornaments the walls of Grace Hospital and many of the homes of her family and friends. She struggled all her life with poor health, physically and mentally, valiantly attending to her family duties and responsibilities as best she could through many hospital visits, surgeries, and, at times, tremendous physical and emotional pain. In spite of it all, she was always beautifully turned out. She’d often say, “There’s no point in feeling bad and looking bad.” Her family members regularly brought home stray friends and relatives, sometimes for a spaghetti dinner, and sometimes for months. She and Louis took them in and were always open and kind. We hope she and Daddy are dancing together in Heaven, under a starry sky. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at St. Alphonsus Church, Munroe Ave. at Brazier St. on Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. Donations in her memory may be made to the Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba, The Canadian Cancer Society or The Rainbow Society. The family respectfully declines flowers at this time.