Former Hungerford resident dies in Canada

Mrs Desmeules first moved to Hungerford in 1942 when her machinist father Albert Mathieson was asked to oversee the manufacture of Spitfire aircraft parts at Denford. Just before the move from North London, she had met a young Canadian soldier, Leo Desmeules, who followed her to Hungerford to court her.
The pair were married on April 29, 1944, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church while Mr Desmeules was on two-day leave. They subsequently made their home in Sarum Way.
The newlyweds then emigrated to start a family in Canada but Mrs Desmeules was homseick and they returned to Hungerford in 1949.
Mr Desmeules found work as manager of the James and Co mill while Mrs Desmeules raised their growing family and joined the town’s Young Wives Group. She later became one of the first Avon Ladies selling cosmetics door-to-door in Hungerford. Later, she worked as receptionist, bartender and office clerk for the Meadowview Squash Club.
In 1975, Mr and Mrs Desmeules moved back to Ontario, Canada. Mr Desmeules died in 1998 and Mrs Desmeules continued to make return visits to see family and friends in Hungerford.
Her son Rod, a former town councillor and organiser of Hungerford’s Christmas lights, said: “Shortly after Christmas, she showed signs of exhaustion and, after only six days in hospital, surrounded by her five children and grandchildren, she succumbed.
“In her final hours she reassured us of her love many times and rallied on the last day, to join us in raising a glass of sherry and toasting a life well lived.”
Mrs Desmeules is also survived by her other children Colin, Yvette, Susan and Marcel, plus grandchildren Philip, Adrienne, Ben, Sam, Jessica, Danielle, Semara, Roan and Amber and great-grandson Albert.
The funeral was due to take place in Canada on Wednesday.
Donations in Mrs Desmeules memory may be made by visiting