Bernadette Gabrielle Thievin

Bernadette Gabrielle Thievin nee Dubreuil, endearingly known to family and friends as ‘Dedette’, died peacefully on March 7, 2021 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She was 95.  Dedette was a lifetime resident of Saskatchewan.

Born in St-Front, Saskatchewan in 1925, Dedette was the ninth and final child of Rose Montes and François Dubreuil. She attended Newdale country school near her parents’ farm in the Rose Valley area, but her real education in life likely began at age 11 when her father died, and she assumed a role of enormous responsibility.

There are few love stories that rival Dedette’s. At 18 she was engaged to a boy who’d stolen her heart when she was 9. Aime Thievin left for Europe to fight in WW2, and after their exchange of more than 500 letters and the arrival of VE Day, he returned in 1945 to marry the girl of his dreams. They had 10 children and 27 grandchildren. And they remained deeply in love their entire lives. At the time of her passing, three successive generations had enriched her life with a total of 76 grandchildren to further her remarkable legacy.

Over the years, Dedette and Aime raised their large family in three places—at their farm near Benson, SK until 1955, in Estevan where they owned and operated a service station until 1967, and at Maple Grove, a summer resort in the Qu’Appelle Valley until 1978 when they retired to the nearby community of Stockholm, SK.

Dedette was an extraordinary woman, wife, mother, and grandmother, genuinely loved by everyone who knew her. She made the world a better place, unfailingly giving every moment of her life to others, and her integrity will never be surpassed. Now her work on earth has finished. Her next assignment comes with a bonus, a reunion with family and friends she has painfully missed. Her newest mission takes her to a wonderful place where she will dance the polka as though she were 20 and bake hearty loaves of bread with unwavering amour de la vie. An eternity of love awaits her, and she is guaranteed the music and the laughter she deserves.

Ten children, twenty-seven grandchildren

1. Thomas (predeceased) with two daughters, Layla Thievin-Pretzlaff and Kayla Marquis

2. Richard with four children, Yvette (Gable), Dion, Monique (Hilstrom), and Reno

3. Denis with two daughters, Michelle (Kralt) and Dana (Hughes)

4. Jim with two sons, Jason, and Luke

5. Charlotte Neyedley with four daughters, Elise (Dunster), Marie (Baker), Bobbi (Ford), and Jaime (Rieger)

6. Francis (predeceased) with one daughter, Aimee

7. Marie Blaquiere with three children, Jeremiah, Matthew, and Eva

8. Dianne Cropp with three children, Thomas, Vance, and Dedette Roussin

9. Marcel (predeceased) with three children, Nichole, Joel, and Cherise

10. Jacqueline Boake with three children, Trenton and Nicolette, and Sarah (Magnus)

Forty-seven great grandchildren

1. Olivia and Adeline Marquis

2. Chelsea, Maxwell, and Mar Ludwig; Ryder, Alena, and Rayne Thievin; Desiree Herperger, Cole and Veronique Hilstrom; Alexandra and Chanel Thievin

3. Charlee, Sawyer, and Remy Kralt; Kiyannah and Matteus Hughes

4. Remy and Beau Thievin

5. Owen, Avery, Estelle, and Marie Dunster; Samuel, Luke, and Amelia Baker; Benjamin and Molly Rink, and Pepper Ford; Felice, Kai, and Aidan Rieger

7. Brigitte Blaquiere, Penelope, and Kenzie Blaquiere

8. Delia and Ronnie Bird-Roussin

9. Isabel Thievin

10. Luxtyn, Zennyn, and Kaidryn Boake; Skylar, Ocean, and Lily Sherman; River and Brooke Boake-Kuppers

Two great-great granddaughters

2. Falyn and Paige Herperger

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