Rita Prouse

Memorial Service

Saturday, May 16th

2:00 p.m.

Kelvington Community Legion Hall

Rita (Lemaire) Prouse was born in Perigord on July 21, 1922, to Adelard and Marie Louise Lemaire. She joined her family consisting of Estelle, Antonia (Tony), Aldeo (Leo), Lionel and following later was Rosario (Rosie). The Lemaire family life was full of hard work but that was balanced with laughter, music, visiting and family. Some of Rita's favourite memories were playing the accordion with her dad on the violin and Leo on the sax. Christmas time was always special with the whole family heading out to search for the perfect Christmas tree. Rita attended school in Perigord and went out to Vancouver with her sister Tony during the early war years. In November 1945, Rita married Lorne Prouse and they started their life together with Lorne farming and Rita looking after the house, yard and, after they moved to the farm north of Kelvington, her huge garden. Together they raised three children: Laryl, Garth and Lita. Rita enjoyed her garden and in particular her yard full of peonies, maples and honeysuckles. Their years on the farm were also full of hard work, but laughter, family, fun and music were always present in abundance. After retiring from the family farm, Rita and Lorne moved to Fort Nelson and spent several years in the north working in the winter and travelling in the summer. The winters in Arizona were full of exploring new vistas and enjoying music with Lorna and Maurice. Rita lived her life to the fullest. Music was an important part of her life and she played for various choirs and churches, weddings and funerals. She was involved in bands most of her life and reminisced often about her years with the Mommas and the Grandmas. Her dream came true when she played on stage at the Kimberley Accordion Festival. Rita was predeceased by her parents, her husband Lorne, son Laryl, and all of her siblings except Rosario, who passed away in April 2015. She leaves to mourn her surviving children, Garth and Lita; daughter-in-law Sharon (Dennis); granddaughters, Laurel and Amber; grandsons, Cody and Jared; great-grandchildren, Austin, Mackenzie and Brooke; as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. Rita's love of life, family and music will always be warmly remembered.