Norma Jeanne Lavoie has been a dedicated volunteer for decades and says helping those less fortunate has humbled her and her late husband, Jacques (Chuck) Lavoie, shown with her here. Photo: Rideau Hall
It’s impossible to talk about Norma Jeanne Lavoie’s commitment to volunteering without mentioning her husband, Jacques (Chuck) Lavoie, who passed away suddenly in 2023. For nearly 20 years, the Lavoies volunteered together and they both received the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers in Moncton in 2017 — a first for a couple, they were told.
“We got a great amount of joy from helping others,” Lavoie explains. “We didn’t look for recognition.”
The longstanding couple, who met in the late ’70s in Saint John, N.B., thought and acted as one. They even worked together.
After a few years in Quebec, where Chuck was working, the Lavoies returned to the Maritimes and set up a sales agency. Together, they travelled the roads as sales representatives for manufacturing companies, doing almost 60,000 kilometres a year side by side.
“We did everything together,” Norma Jeanne says. “When one thought of something, the other seemed to know it,” she recalls. “I would go to say something, and [then] he would say it.”
In 2005, when Norma Jeanne’s son from a previous marriage died of a rare form of heart cancer, the Lavoies found a way to cope together: “We threw ourselves wholeheartedly into volunteering,” she recalls.
The two had already given of their time in the past, notably by collecting stuffed animals and toys for hospitals. One day, the Lavoies heard that a man undergoing cancer treatment had had his bike stolen while out walking, and they decided to raise funds to replace it.
The success of their initiative energized them, and their volunteer work took off from there. Vestiaire St-Joseph, a food bank in Shediac, N.B.; Tantramar Seniors College, which offers courses for seniors; and the Dieppe Military Veterans Association are just some of the organizations that have benefited from their commitment over the years.
Before meeting Norma Jeanne, Chuck had worked for the Royal Canadian
Air Force for 21 years, so it was only natural that the couple decided to join the South-East New Brunswick branch of the National Association of Federal Retirees. They soon became members of the board of directors and then took charge of organizing the branch’s annual banquet for 14 years.
Norma Jeanne can’t say how many hours a week she spent volunteering in those days.
“I couldn’t even begin to think about that,” she explains. “Everyone in the community seemed to know us.”
At the time, nothing seemed to stop Norma Jeanne, who continued her volunteer activities while battling breast cancer. Today, she is an eight-year survivor.
“I’m a very determined person, and I make sure that I continue to overcome every obstacle in my path,” she explains.
The death of Chuck, whom she describes as the love of her life, and a more recent fall, have forced her to slow down, but she remains active with Federal Retirees.
“It’s been quite a journey,” she says. “I have wonderful memories of my whole life. Helping the less fortunate has humbled us.”