Rhéal Simon Rozon
13 February, 1930 – 21 March, 2021.
Our father, Rhéal Rozon, Dad, passed away peacefully on Sunday March 21, 2021, on the first day of spring.
He lived a remarkable life. He was 91 years young. He was still downhill skiing in his late 80’s with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren on a regular basis.
Dad was born “dans le East end” of Cornwall at the start of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Times were hard but Dad’s father Augustin (Pepère Rozon) worked long hours at the Old Cotton Mill for not a lot of money, but the family had a large garden, kept chickens in the backyard and Pepère did a lot of fishing on the St. Lawrence River. Dad’s mother Marie-Rose, Memère Rozon, could split a penny in half to make ends meet. Even though Dad only had one sibling, Laurette, they were part of a large, tightly knit extended Franco Ontarian family who helped each other out.
The door was always open at Pepère and Memère’s home. Few people knocked, they just walked in.
Dad’s entire primary education was “en francais”. The only high school in Cornwall at the time was CCVS, where the entire program was in english. It was a cultural shock when he started grade nine. He studied and worked hard and was one of only two francophones from his primary school cohort to graduate high school. Dad was the first in his family to get a high school diploma, and he continued learning all his life.
Dad inherited Pepère and Memère’s strong work ethic, which he passed on to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. At 12 years of age his paper route for Le Droit, covered most of “le East end” of Cornwall. Dad was not as tall as other boys his age and was blessed with a baby face. Among his clients were our maternal grandparents, the Leclair family, which included our mother Cécile Leclair, (Mom) who at 12 years old was already beautiful and very tall. At that very tender age Dad fell in love with Cécile Leclair, who did not pay much attention to the little shrimp paperboy, until several years later when he had grown several more inches in height.
Dad was in the Army cadets at CCVS when World War II broke out. At 16 years of age, he had the temerity of asking Pepère Rozon for a mandatory special permission to join the Army. Pepère had a very unceremonious and categorical response: No. That was the end of Dad’s quest to join the Armed Forces.
Dad started working at the Canadian Cotton Mill in 1948 and soon after was promoted to the “Time study engineering” group (now known as Lean Manufacturing). Dad could be a bit of a joker when the need arose. There was a coworker in the mill whose claim to fame was stealing other people’s lunches, including Dad’s. So one day, Dad put a very thick and strong horseradish sandwich in his lunch box . The co-worker stole Dad’s horseradish sandwich, swallowed it in one mouthful and immediately screamed in pain because he thought Dad had poisoned him. The co-worker’s lunch stealing escapades came to a sudden stop that day.
By 1953 Dad had his growth spurt and was the same height as Cécile, Mom, so she finally noticed him. He proposed to the love of his life, his true soul-mate, on the shores of the St. Lawrence River and they married in 1953.
Dad left the Cotton Mill in 1954 and started in sales with a small construction company. Dad was very entrepreneurial in those early years He purchased land, built houses and sold them at a profit. In 1954 he bought the Schulers Potato Chip distributorship for Eastern Ontario. He had several trucks on the road, a garage full of potato chips and had a room in our house where he stored the candy inventory. As children, we raided that candy room on a regular basis and Dad ended up with large dental bills.
In 1958 he and his lifelong friend, Johnny Di Giosia started Danny’s Sales and Service, a construction company specializing in residential stucco. Dad did the selling, Johnny did the stucco and we always had good quantities of red Italian wine in our house.
A succession of five Rozon children started arriving from 1954 to 1965. Dad was working 12 hours a day and Mom had her hands full trying to keep control of a rowdy bunch of kids.
Dad was one of the founding members of the Nativity Guard in 1952. In the early years of the Nativity Guard he became Commandant. Under his command and during a decade the Guard grew to over 150 active members. During those years parades were very popular and the Guard’s musical marching band won several awards. When he passed, Dad was the longest serving member of the Nativity Guard.
Dad also spent several years on the executive of “La semaine française de Cornwall”. He was also a 3rd degree Knight of Columbus. He was a quisinsential volunteer. He was a good man with a strong moral compass and moral convictions. His faith in his church was unshakeable.
In 1960, at 30 years of age, he sold his Schuler chip distributorship and started a new career that spanned 42 years. He became a financial planner before the term financial planner was even invented. Dad hit the books again to learn about the stock market, mutual funds and then RRSP’s. Over 42 years, he worked tirelessly and built a very large and loyal client base of several hundred clients in Eastern Ontario with Fiducie Prêt et Revenue, (Savings and Investment Trust). He helped people build their financial security, small amounts at a time, largely through educating clients on mutual fund investments, compound interest, dividends and then RRSP’s. Most people contributed small monthly amounts that eventually became very significant financial nest eggs for those hundreds of clients. Up until Covid 19 hit, Dad’s former clients would stop him on the sidewalk, shake his hand and thank him for what he had done for them.
Dad was an avid fisherman, hunter, gardner and downhill skier. At the conclusion of his last fishing trip last fall, when he was 90 years of age, there was a long debate as to who had caught the largest yellow perch – him or one of his great grandsons. With his usual grace, he conceded that his great grandson’s perch was bigger.
Mom and Dad’s house on Toll Gate Road and then on Thirteenth street was a party venue for friends and family. The most popular were the Christmas Eve parties. A hundred or so of our friends and family members would join the celebration for a few hours or the entire night. The party would usually end when the sun came up or the beer ran out, (which never happened), on Christmas morning. Dad’s répertoire of “chansons à répondre” was unmatched. He could and did, sing all night.
We five kids could be an unruly crew at the diner table and the gang leader of the occasional food fight was often Mom. When significant others started joining us at the table, they were initially shocked and startled at the first potato being thrown, but they soon learned how to duck for incoming spuds. Dad was the only “non-participant” when potatoes and other staples started flying across the table. He simply sat there and shook his head in bewilderment.
Dad spent a lot of time teaching and coaching his family, his nieces and nephews, and anyone else who wanted to learn about the stock market, investments, as well as downhill and water skiing. HIs smile made you feel like you had just made his whole year. He would give you his undivided attention. Several people give him credit for who they are now in life.
The twelve months starting in the spring of 2003 was a difficult time for Dad. Mom, Cécile Rozon, the love of Dad’s life, passed away suddenly from cancer. Shortly after, he lost his only sister Laurette, followed by his brother in law, euchre partner and best friend, René Phoenix.
Afterwards, Dad found a true and great partner in Anny Schell, who was a big part of his life for the last 17 years.
Dad leaves a large brood on this earth: we hIs children, Daniel (Monique), Manon (Richard), Mariette (Carolyn), Pierre (Renée), Luc (Dena). A large contingent of grandchildren, great grandchildren, as well as an abundance of nieces and nephews, great grand nieces and great grand nephews and his partner Anny Schell.
The CHEO Jaza Endowment Fund was created several years ago in recognition of the great team of doctors, nurses and staff at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario who saved the life of Jade, one of Dad’s great grandchildren. She was born 13 years ago with a very rare medical condition but she is now an active teenager because of that great CHEO team. In lieu of flowers, Dad’s family would appreciate donations to the endowment fund: https://cheofoundation.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.event&eventID=531
A direct link to the endowment fund site is also on the Salon Funéraire M. John Sullivan Funeral Home in Cornwall Ontario website under Rhéal Rozon funeral arrangements.
It pains us however, that due to Covid-19 restrictions, visitation and funeral attendance is private and by invitation only. The funeral will be held on Saturday March 27, 2021 at 10am and will be livestreamed. The details on the livestream will be posted on the funeral home’s website prior to the funeral.
Online messages of condolence may be made at www.mjohnsullivanfuneralhome.com
13 February, 1930 – 21 March, 2021.
Our father, Rhéal Rozon, Dad, passed away peacefully on Sunday March 21, 2021, on the first day of spring.
He lived a remarkable life. He was 91 years young. He was still downhill skiing in his late 80’s with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren on a regular basis.
Dad was born “dans le East end” of Cornwall at the start of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Times were hard but Dad’s father Augustin (Pepère Rozon) worked long hours at the Old Cotton Mill for not a lot of money, but the family had a large garden, kept chickens in the backyard and Pepère did a lot of fishing on the St. Lawrence River. Dad’s mother Marie-Rose, Memère Rozon, could split a penny in half to make ends meet. Even though Dad only had one sibling, Laurette, they were part of a large, tightly knit extended Franco Ontarian family who helped each other out.
The door was always open at Pepère and Memère’s home. Few people knocked, they just walked in.
Dad’s entire primary education was “en francais”. The only high school in Cornwall at the time was CCVS, where the entire program was in english. It was a cultural shock when he started grade nine. He studied and worked hard and was one of only two francophones from his primary school cohort to graduate high school. Dad was the first in his family to get a high school diploma, and he continued learning all his life.
Dad inherited Pepère and Memère’s strong work ethic, which he passed on to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. At 12 years of age his paper route for Le Droit, covered most of “le East end” of Cornwall. Dad was not as tall as other boys his age and was blessed with a baby face. Among his clients were our maternal grandparents, the Leclair family, which included our mother Cécile Leclair, (Mom) who at 12 years old was already beautiful and very tall. At that very tender age Dad fell in love with Cécile Leclair, who did not pay much attention to the little shrimp paperboy, until several years later when he had grown several more inches in height.
Dad was in the Army cadets at CCVS when World War II broke out. At 16 years of age, he had the temerity of asking Pepère Rozon for a mandatory special permission to join the Army. Pepère had a very unceremonious and categorical response: No. That was the end of Dad’s quest to join the Armed Forces.
Dad started working at the Canadian Cotton Mill in 1948 and soon after was promoted to the “Time study engineering” group (now known as Lean Manufacturing). Dad could be a bit of a joker when the need arose. There was a coworker in the mill whose claim to fame was stealing other people’s lunches, including Dad’s. So one day, Dad put a very thick and strong horseradish sandwich in his lunch box . The co-worker stole Dad’s horseradish sandwich, swallowed it in one mouthful and immediately screamed in pain because he thought Dad had poisoned him. The co-worker’s lunch stealing escapades came to a sudden stop that day.
By 1953 Dad had his growth spurt and was the same height as Cécile, Mom, so she finally noticed him. He proposed to the love of his life, his true soul-mate, on the shores of the St. Lawrence River and they married in 1953.
Dad left the Cotton Mill in 1954 and started in sales with a small construction company. Dad was very entrepreneurial in those early years He purchased land, built houses and sold them at a profit. In 1954 he bought the Schulers Potato Chip distributorship for Eastern Ontario. He had several trucks on the road, a garage full of potato chips and had a room in our house where he stored the candy inventory. As children, we raided that candy room on a regular basis and Dad ended up with large dental bills.
In 1958 he and his lifelong friend, Johnny Di Giosia started Danny’s Sales and Service, a construction company specializing in residential stucco. Dad did the selling, Johnny did the stucco and we always had good quantities of red Italian wine in our house.
A succession of five Rozon children started arriving from 1954 to 1965. Dad was working 12 hours a day and Mom had her hands full trying to keep control of a rowdy bunch of kids.
Dad was one of the founding members of the Nativity Guard in 1952. In the early years of the Nativity Guard he became Commandant. Under his command and during a decade the Guard grew to over 150 active members. During those years parades were very popular and the Guard’s musical marching band won several awards. When he passed, Dad was the longest serving member of the Nativity Guard.
Dad also spent several years on the executive of “La semaine française de Cornwall”. He was also a 3rd degree Knight of Columbus. He was a quisinsential volunteer. He was a good man with a strong moral compass and moral convictions. His faith in his church was unshakeable.
In 1960, at 30 years of age, he sold his Schuler chip distributorship and started a new career that spanned 42 years. He became a financial planner before the term financial planner was even invented. Dad hit the books again to learn about the stock market, mutual funds and then RRSP’s. Over 42 years, he worked tirelessly and built a very large and loyal client base of several hundred clients in Eastern Ontario with Fiducie Prêt et Revenue, (Savings and Investment Trust). He helped people build their financial security, small amounts at a time, largely through educating clients on mutual fund investments, compound interest, dividends and then RRSP’s. Most people contributed small monthly amounts that eventually became very significant financial nest eggs for those hundreds of clients. Up until Covid 19 hit, Dad’s former clients would stop him on the sidewalk, shake his hand and thank him for what he had done for them.
Dad was an avid fisherman, hunter, gardner and downhill skier. At the conclusion of his last fishing trip last fall, when he was 90 years of age, there was a long debate as to who had caught the largest yellow perch – him or one of his great grandsons. With his usual grace, he conceded that his great grandson’s perch was bigger.
Mom and Dad’s house on Toll Gate Road and then on Thirteenth street was a party venue for friends and family. The most popular were the Christmas Eve parties. A hundred or so of our friends and family members would join the celebration for a few hours or the entire night. The party would usually end when the sun came up or the beer ran out, (which never happened), on Christmas morning. Dad’s répertoire of “chansons à répondre” was unmatched. He could and did, sing all night.
We five kids could be an unruly crew at the diner table and the gang leader of the occasional food fight was often Mom. When significant others started joining us at the table, they were initially shocked and startled at the first potato being thrown, but they soon learned how to duck for incoming spuds. Dad was the only “non-participant” when potatoes and other staples started flying across the table. He simply sat there and shook his head in bewilderment.
Dad spent a lot of time teaching and coaching his family, his nieces and nephews, and anyone else who wanted to learn about the stock market, investments, as well as downhill and water skiing. HIs smile made you feel like you had just made his whole year. He would give you his undivided attention. Several people give him credit for who they are now in life.
The twelve months starting in the spring of 2003 was a difficult time for Dad. Mom, Cécile Rozon, the love of Dad’s life, passed away suddenly from cancer. Shortly after, he lost his only sister Laurette, followed by his brother in law, euchre partner and best friend, René Phoenix.
Afterwards, Dad found a true and great partner in Anny Schell, who was a big part of his life for the last 17 years.
Dad leaves a large brood on this earth: we hIs children, Daniel (Monique), Manon (Richard), Mariette (Carolyn), Pierre (Renée), Luc (Dena). A large contingent of grandchildren, great grandchildren, as well as an abundance of nieces and nephews, great grand nieces and great grand nephews and his partner Anny Schell.
The CHEO Jaza Endowment Fund was created several years ago in recognition of the great team of doctors, nurses and staff at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario who saved the life of Jade, one of Dad’s great grandchildren. She was born 13 years ago with a very rare medical condition but she is now an active teenager because of that great CHEO team. In lieu of flowers, Dad’s family would appreciate donations to the endowment fund: https://cheofoundation.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.event&eventID=531
A direct link to the endowment fund site is also on the Salon Funéraire M. John Sullivan Funeral Home in Cornwall Ontario website under Rhéal Rozon funeral arrangements.
It pains us however, that due to Covid-19 restrictions, visitation and funeral attendance is private and by invitation only. The funeral will be held on Saturday March 27, 2021 at 10am and will be livestreamed. The details on the livestream will be posted on the funeral home’s website prior to the funeral.
Online messages of condolence may be made at www.mjohnsullivanfuneralhome.com