Octavia (Lalonde) Turcotte passed away on Monday, October 16, 2017 in Northgate Health Care Facility, North Tonawanda, NY after 101 years of a life well lived with family, friends, and faith. She was born in Chute-a-Blondeau, Ontario, and raised in Chippewa, Ontario, the last of seven children of Adelmard and Marie Irene Lalonde. She began her work like early as a maid and then a cook until she married Joseph Leo Turcotte in 1938, a relationship she once characterized as love at first sight. Upon her marriage she emigrated to Niagara Falls, NY where she and Leo remained for the rest of their lives.

Octavia is survived by her four children, Annette (Douglas) Snyder, Rheal (Denise) Turcotte, Evelyn Googe, and Louise Fossa; fourteen grandchildren (one deceased); eighteen great-grandchildren; and two great-great grandchildren, marking five generations for the first time in the family's history. She was predeceased by her brothers Rene Lalonde and Arthur Lalonde and her four sisters, Therese Leveille, Blanche Lalonde, Hermine Goulah, Augustine LaFreniere and Agnesse Lalonde. It was a closely-knit extended French-Canadian family with numerous relations on both sides.

After her husband passed in 1969, Octavia worked as a caregiver and then 18 years as a housekeeper for the priests of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, a fulfilling and loved position. She was an excellent cook, and a talented seamstress. She loved to read, complete crossword puzzles and also enjoyed the adventure of travel. We remember with profound affection all that Octavia was and did and we commend her spirit to God, in whom she had a deep faith. She was the last of her generation.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 19 ^th from 3 – 7 P.M. at M.J. COLUCCI & SON NIAGARA FUNERAL CHAPEL, 2730 Military Road, Niagara Falls. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday at 10 AM in Holy Family Parish at Mt. Carmel Church, 27 ^th Street and Independence Avenue. Interment in Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Memorial offerings may be made to Holy Family Parish.