Mordue S Zest for Life Never Surprised Family

Mordue’s zest for life never surprised family Woodstock Sentinel-Review Aug 12, 2005 http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2082573 Link no longer works

Lois Mordue was an inspiration of courage, a model of strength. Over the past year, she focused on her health. She rode a high wave of confidence. She was happy.

"I was so proud of her," Mordue’s son Barry Foster of Toronto said yesterday, reflecting on a woman who, even at 59 years old, took a fearless outlook to a new chapter in her life. "All her worries were lifted."

Mordue died tragically Monday at her home on Wendy Calder Place. Police have charged her estranged husband with second-degree murder.

She would have turned 60 in December, but as her daughter Bonnie Leduc noted, "she looked younger than her years."

Mordue was born and raised in Woodstock. She lived in Innerkip and Norwich before coming back to live in the city.

Residents living in the Lansdowne Avenue area north of Devonshire might have frequently seen Mordue out for a stroll around the neighbourhood. Her smile was beaming. Her personality bubbly.

"She was friendly and easy to talk to," Leduc explained at her Lansdowne Avenue house, which is just around the corner from her mom’s Wendy Calder Place home.

Mordue was proud of that single-storey home. It was her castle. It was a place to start anew. She was basking in a fabulous upswing in her life. She was sparked by a new boyfriend. She felt a rekindled vibrancy, her family said.

"She did so much on her own," Foster said, noting his family was celebrating so many positive changes in Mordue?s life. Mordue was gentle and quiet, but she also had a quirky side that may have only be known to her family and close friends.

About eight years ago, she graduated from a clown school in Woodstock. Her red- nosed clowning alter ego was named Sophie and she told people at nursing homes and local festivals that she was seven years old.

"It was something she always wanted to do," Leduc said, chuckling as she remembered back to her mother’s graduation from clown school.

"When she said she was going to do clowning, it really didn’t surprise me." Before her leap into clowning, Mordue took piano lessons with children. Leduc recalled her mother’s big recital with the young students. Mordue became flustered and left the stage. Shortly after, she would share a laugh with her daughter, poking fun at the situation. "She had a great sense of humour," Leduc said.

Foster said for Mordue’s 50th birthday, her family gave her a pair of tap shoes, taking her back to younger days when she danced at the Capital Theatre. More recently, Mordue has focused more on two of her greatest loves, her granddaughters, Emily Leduc, 8, and Heather Leduc, 5.

The girls, who are Bonnie Leduc’s children, would often have sleep-overs with their grandma. With the two houses only minutes apart, Mordue visited the girls every chance she had. "She lived for those girls," Leduc said.

Holidays shared with family formed some of the highlights of Mordue’s life. She would cook large meals for the entire family.

Recently, Mordue was getting more in touch with her spiritual side, frequently attending at the Oxford Baptist Church.

This was a time to celebrate. Everything was falling into place for Mordue. "All her friends said the same thing," Leduc said. "They’ve never seen her so happy."

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