Obituary of Charlie Gauthier

Born to Adélard and Exilda Gauthier in 1939, Charlie grew up with 10 siblings on the family farm.  Charlie helped on the farm, but also took on jobs with other farmers, carpentry in Calgary and road construction.  In 1961, he returned to Gravelbourg, married Hélène Lafrance and worked maintenance at St. Joseph’s Hospital.  They lived in town until purchasing and moving to their farm in 1964.  In 1976, he switched to farming full time.  Charlie and Hélène were blessed with two sons: Pierre and Marcel. Charlie took pride in coaching his sons’ hockey teams. Family camping trips and fishing were enjoyed each summer; later, taking the grandkids - never passing up a bonfire and s’mores.  Curling, playing pool, and reading were some other favourite pastimes of Charlie’s. Once retired in 2006, Charlie was able to spend more time woodworking, especially on the lathe.  He was a great Pepère - giving pieces of wood from projects to granddaughter Sylvie to have a “grocery store” in his shop or sharing his passion for woodworking and his love of pool with grandson Julien. Charlie would rarely miss his grandchildren’s various sporting events. Many evenings were spent playing cards, playing pool and visiting with family and friends.

Charlie is survived by his loving wife Hélène, son Marcel (Francine) Gauthier, granddaughter Sylvie Gauthier (Jesse Hippert), great-grandson Heston, grandson Julien Gauthier, sister Alma Blouin, sister-in-law Irène Gauthier and brother-in-law Richard Lafrance.  He was predeceased by his son Pierre, his parents Adelard and Exilda (née Braconnier) Gauthier, siblings and in-laws: Yvette & Marcel Poirier, Cyrille & Jeanne Gauthier, Lucille & Gérard Bouvier/Bill Lightbody, Juliette & Gérard Arsenault, Jeannine & Bert Gagnon, Roger Gauthier, Sr. Denise Gauthier, Jules & Adrienne Gauthier, Louis & Cécile Gauthier, Georges Blouin, Philippe Lafrance, father-in-law Pierre Lafrance and mother-in-law Irène Lafrance (née Beaubien).