Raymonde Martel

Raymonde Martel died on 18 June 2025 at age 90 at Royal University Hospital Saskatoon surrounded by loved ones.

She is survived by her daughter Jocelyne (Warren Holmes) and son Francois as well as her sisters in law Sr. Jocelyne Martel (OSB), Monique Lamarche, and Nicole Perron and numerous nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband Serge Martel, her parents, and her 15 siblings.

Raymonde was born in Riviere-du-Loup QC in 1934. She was the youngest of a large family. She completed nursing school in 1958 at Hopital du Saint Sacrement, Universite Laval.

Raymonde met Serge in Quebec City and they married in June of 1960. Shortly after the wedding, they left for Honolulu and subsequently spent time in Detroit, Paris, Oklahoma and Ottawa. The family moved to Saskatoon in the summer of 1967.

Raymonde worked in nursing in various countries and areas of medicine while caring for her growing family's needs. An accomplished cook and talented textile artist, she produced many special handmade dishes and gifts for family and friends. She loved to read novels in English and French and would share her favorites generously with young and old. She remembered birthdays, trips, graduations, surgeries, losses, therapies, anniversaries and kept a detailed diary. Her love of journalling lead to her participation in the research and publication of Herstory - a publication of the Saskatoon Women's Calendar Collective. She enjoyed working with UNICEF in Saskatoon and for many years taught conversational French from the family dining room.

As her children moved into adulthood, Raymonde completed a refresher in nursing and went back to work at Royal University Hospital in 1981, first in Neurosurgery and then in Cardiology. She made friends easily and everywhere. She valued kindness, generosity, wit, honesty, intelligence and appreciation of the arts. She nurtured all relationships carefully and had an ability to detect what you needed, delivering it exactly when it was required, be it a meal, a book, a New Yorker magazine, a blanket or a hug.

After retirement she and Serge travelled annually to Quebec and to France to enjoy these places. These were special times for them to have together to explore new places and reaffirm connections with family and old friends.

Serge died in 2023 and she was without her life partner. She missed him and spoke of him often, hoping to share with him a small joy, an observation, or something new she had read or learned.

She leaves so many friends of all ages, from an infant she met and held this spring to a mature colleague at 93, whom she has known over 50 years. Each has had a special connection with Raymonde and will have felt her love. Many sent messages of love in her last days.

The family would like to thank the physicians and staff who cared for Raymonde while she was in the emergency department and 5100 at Royal University Hospital. They were sensitive to her requests and respectful of her decisions, kind and compassionate and allowed her last days to be as comfortable as possible. At her request, there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Sanctum Care Group or UNICEF.