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Jeannette Reegina Verbeke
May 21, 1937 – June 2, 2025
On June 2, 2025, surrounded by loved ones, Jeannette Verbeke, age 88, went to be with her Lord.
She was the beloved wife of the late Roger Verbeke (1983). Jeannette will be sadly missed by her children: Penny Nunn, Rod (Sue) Verbeke and Pam (Dean) Crombeen. She loved and spent many meaningful hours with all of her grandchildren: Renee, Jacob (Megan), Lauren (Bianca); the late Darcie (1993), Remi (Kiesha), Hunter, Braeden; Mitchel and Theo. She also had six loving great-grandchildren: Blake, Avery, Addison, Camden, Lena and Harlee. She will be lovingly missed by her sister, Lizette Vanhaelemeesch, several nieces and nephews, brother-in-law, Floyd Steven and her loving cousin Eric (Jacqueline) Vanpoucke.
Jeannette is predeceased by her husband, Roger Verbeke; her granddaughter, Darcie Leigh Wade Verbeke; her parents, Remi and Zulma Vandaele; her siblings, Walter Vandaele and Rosette Steven, her sister-in-law, Jean Vandaele and brother-in-law, Jules Vanhaelemeesch.
Jeannette was born in Belgium on May 21, 1937 to the late Remi and Zulma (Dedeyne) Vandaele. She moved to Canada with her parents and siblings Easter Sunday 1951 in the middle of a snowstorm. She worked as an aide at St. Joseph’s Hospital from 1953 to 1955. Against her father’s wishes, at age 18, she moved to London to attend cosmetology school. For quite a few years, she worked as a hairdresser at Angelina’s. Once her children were all in school, she opened her own shop, Jeannette’s Hair Fashions, in Courtright. She operated her shop until she retired in 1996 and moved to Thompson Gardens in Corunna.
Although she met her one-and-only love just two days after arriving in Canada, neither realized it at the time. They eventually married on April 11, 1959 and began their family just a couple years later. Her children have many fond memories of time spent together with extended family and friends. Jeannette was always supportive of her children and grandchildren attending many sporting events to cheer them on. She was proud of all their achievements and bragged about them to everyone. She loved to play games, cook, bake, garden and was an excellent knitter. They all loved cooking with Grandma and everyone has their favorite dish she made (butter tarts, applesauce, ribs, drummies, crepes, apple dumplings, etsaput and keddapop).
During the 25 years she lived at Thompson Gardens, she helped everyone. When she moved to Lambton Meadowview Villa in 2022, she continued to help in anyway she could, sometimes even when she shouldn’t.
The residents and staff at Meadowview became her adopted family, a few very special to Jeannette and vice-versa. Many enjoyed her sarcasm and wit. As her health deteriorated, Jeannette sometimes found it hard to find her words, but she got her point across with her beautiful, expressive eyes and intense eyebrows.
The family wishes to thank the staff of Lambton Meadowview Villa for the loving care she received while living there. We especially want to thank those who guided us, those who laughed and cried with us, and those who helped make her beautiful for her final journey. We would like to extend a special loving thank you to Jeannette’s little rays of sunshine, Julia and Hannah, and her niece Angie for making sure we were all looked after.
A celebration of life with a light lunch will be held at Huron Oaks Golf Course, Brights Grove Saturday, June 14, 2025, 1:00 – 4:00pm.
Sympathy may be expressed through donations to:
Lambton Meadowview Villa for upkeep of the garden fountain she so loved.
https://www.lambtoncares.ca/donate/support-us/ (choose The Villa Auxiliary for the area to support)
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Alzheimer Society of Canada
https://alzheimercanada.donorsupport.co/page/C3_2025?_lang=en
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