In Memory of

Phyllis

Lucy

Marguerite

"Lucy"

Poaps

(Connelly)

Obituary for Phyllis Lucy Marguerite "Lucy" Poaps (Connelly)

Poaps, Phyllis Lucy Marguerite (Lucy)
February 14th, 1930 – August 27th, 2022

Our dear Mom, Lucy Poaps, passed away suddenly on Saturday, August 27th, 2022, in the Rosamond Wing of the Almonte General Hospital. Tragically, it was COVID that stole our Mom from us.

Born Phyllis Lucy Marguerite Connelly in Ottawa, Ontario to parents Phyllis and Francis Connelly, she had a younger brother, Frank, a half-brother Bill and half-sister Evelyn Potvin. Predeceased by husbands Donald Stewart (1957) and Gerry Poaps (2011), her beloved son Rob (2015) and her dearest first-born grandchild Bex (2021).

After leaving Lisgar Collegiate, Lucy worked first for the Drake family as a nanny, then for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and finally in her most cherished job as wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.

She married Donald Gordon Stewart on April 26th, 1952 and had four children: Rob, Lee, Jane and Eric. Sadly, their life together in Ramsayville would be cut short when Don died of a brain tumour in January of 1957, leaving Lucy with four children under age four to raise on her own.

She was so fortunate to meet Gerry Poaps, who welcomed her and her little family with open arms. They married on September 1st, 1961 and moved to Almonte where Susan, Sandra and Steven joined the family.

Lucy was the proud grandmother of Bex, Kate (Mike), Pam (Eric), Laurie (Sarah), Gill, Jarrett, Grace (AJ), Sophia, Olivia and Carson. In November 2019 she was delighted to welcome her great grandchildren Jack and Adaline. She loved her daughters-in-law Sandra, Val and Kim, and her sons-in-law Jacques, Jim and Eric. She was also fond of Gerry’s firstborn son Richard Cox, his wife Carol and Pam’s stepdaughter Maggie.

Mom was always thinking of others and gave of her time generously. A longtime member of the Girl Guides, she was Tawny Owl for the 2nd Almonte Brownie Pack. She hosted Brownie camp trips and cookouts at our family farm that are fondly remembered by many of her former Brownies to this day.

She was a longtime volunteer at the Almonte General Hospital where she was the Rosamond Wing Volunteer Team Leader. For many years she and her dear friend Audrey Barden could be found in the Rosamond, Maternity and Medical-Surgical wards bringing juice, snacks and a bit of company to the patients.

She was a member of St Paul’s Anglican Church for more than 60 years and was secretary for the Anglican Church Women for 25 years ending in 2005.

She was also involved in the establishment of the Hub in Almonte, where she made lifelong friends.

She very much enjoyed attending the Day Away programme offered in Almonte by the Alzheimer’s Society; she made wonderful friends with staff, attendees and those who would drive her.

Lucy was a wonderful writer: letters to her family and friends, short stories, and poetry. She was an avid reader until memory issues got in the way. Lucy was also an ardent photo taker, leaving us many wonderful photo albums documenting our family’s history. Scrapbooking was one of her favourite pastimes; she passed many of those scrapbooks on to her friend, Linda Seccaspina, who shared them online with the people of Mississippi Mills.

Special friends include Nell Beekink, Ann Bird, Fay Butcher, Salli Cleminson, Libby Foster, her pen pal of more than 80 years Betty (Len) Harnwell of Australia, Brenda Johnson, June Kirch, Debbie Metcalfe, Lois Press, Liz Rahman, Jennifer Rischmiller, Miriam Tuffin, Ardith Wilson and many more!

Our family will be forever grateful for the care and friendship of Danielle (and her daughter Natasha) as well as all the other PSWs who assisted our Mom over the last few years. Our thanks also to the doctors and nurses at the OHI and AGH who took care of Lucy.

We will all miss Lucy a great deal. She was simply the BEST and we all loved her so very much. Rest easy Mom and enjoy catching up with all who have gone before you, especially your beloved Gizmo. We will meet again but until then farewell, we LOVE you.

Friends are invited to visit C.R. Gamble Funeral Home, 127 Church Street,
Almonte, September 9th, 2-4pm and 6-8pm. Funeral Services will be held at St Paul’s Anglican Church (masks mandatory), 70 Clyde St, Almonte, Saturday September 10th at 11am. Viewing at the church 1 hour before the service. Reception to follow at the Gamble Funeral Home.

Should you wish to make a donation in memory of Lucy please consider the Alzheimer Society of Lanark Leeds Grenville 100 Strowger Blvd., Unit 107, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5J9. Phone: 613-345-7392, Toll-free: 1-866-576-8556, Email: alz@alzllg.ca
Condolences & Tributes: www.crgamble.com