Lise Richard has left to join her lifelong accomplice. The widow of the former Canadiens center died of colon cancer on Thursday. She was 86 years old.
Her death comes just over three years after that of her husband, who died at the age of 84 from complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
With her, the last bastion of the quartet that Maurice and Henri formed with their spouses Lucille and Lise disappears.
But her memories live on in the minds of her family members and the thousands of people who knew her.
A life together
Lise and Henri have spent most of their lives together. They had met at the age of six through their sisters in the Bordeaux neighborhood of north Montreal.
The lady told me the story during the unveiling of two murals honoring her spouse in the entrance hall of the Place Bell in Laval.
“We were always together,” she said.
“He came to visit me at home. I thought he was handsome. He didn’t talk much, but I did!
“When I was 13 and 14, I was playing hockey with him and his circle of friends when a player was missing.
“We were young and so it happened that we parted ways from time to time. We left each other, we moved on. But I never thought that one day we would get married.
Henry’s three goals
But Henry didn’t see it that way. Marrying his beautiful Lise was one of his three goals in life.
The other two played for the Canadiens with his brother Maurice and owned a tavern. Not only did he get there, but the adventure certainly lasted a long time.
The marriage between Lise and Henri produced five children: Michèle (Jean Parenteau), Gilles (Noëlla Poirier), Denis (Lise Therriault), Marie-France (Yves-Albert Desjardins) and Nathalie (Daniel Goulet). Their descendants gave them ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Our sincerest condolences go out to the entire family.
