LILLIAN "RITA" (TELLIER) BRYDGES

March 16, 2022

Lillian “Rita” (Tellier) Brydges of Ottawa, formerly of Port Elgin, died peacefully and comfortably, March 16, 2022, at Carleton Lodge Nursing Home, Ottawa, in her 99th year. Rita spent her first 31 years in Windsor with her large extended French-speaking family: notably, her parents, Aurien “Fred” Tellier and M.H. Eva (Champagne) Tellier; her siblings, Edgar and Henriette “Bebe” Tellier; their respective spouses, Janet (Barbe) and John “Jack” Boomer –all now deceased. There, she met and married Percy R. Brydges in 1948, becoming part of another large family. In 1954, Rita and Perc made a major life change by moving to a farm on the River Road near Port Elgin and shortly afterwards, becoming parents. There, with the help of new neighbours and dear friends, Rita honed her culinary and preserving skills, her precision approach to textile works and her ability to make tight ends meet. Always in pursuit of knowledge, she consistently read daily national newspapers, attended years of night school classes, and managed to acquire an extensive library. Very few could challenge Rita when playing Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble! After 25 years of using her secretarial skills to assist Perc in his late-in-life teaching career, in Kincardine and Port Elgin secondary schools, Rita and Perc retired to Port Elgin in 1985 where she became widowed in 1993. Her next move was to Ottawa in 2009 to live with her younger daughter, Laura. She died peacefully and comfortably in her 99th year, at Carleton Lodge Nursing Home, Ottawa. Rita is survived by her two daughters, Adele (John) Kaminski of Kincardine; and Laura Brydges (Richard White) of Ottawa; as well as two grandsons, Neil (Lianne) Kaminski and their two sons, Evan and Owen, of Arthur; and Keith (Lisa) Kaminski, and their three sons, Ethan, Dylan and Kian, of Kincardine. Also survived by niece-in-law, Val (Guy d/c 2020) Tellier of Elora; nephew-in-law, Glenn (Gay Tellier d/c 2006) Roshier of Fraser Lake, British Columbia; nephews, Denis (Sandy) Tellier of Dyer’s Bay, and Marc (Betsy) Tellier of Lion’s Head; nieces, Colette Tellier (Eric) Stoof of Penticton, British Columbia, and Carol Brydges (Walter) Todorov of Nanaimo, British Columbia, and their families. Cremation was entrusted to Capital Funeral Home, Ottawa. In lieu of donations, choose to honour Rita in a manner that you feel would bring a smile to her face.