On Sunday it will be six years since Patrick Bourgeois died of colon cancer. To mark this event and raise funds for the fight against colon cancer, the singer’s widow and daughter, Mélanie Savard and Marie-William Bourgeois, came up with the idea of selling T-shirts with BB’s image.
Every November 26th is a difficult day for Mélanie Savard. Patrick Bourgeois’ widow, who spent the last 18 years of her life by his side, admits she still suffers from post-traumatic shock. “We relive this day every time,” she told the Journal. Even if we wanted to miss it, it is a difficult day every year. We see that it has already been six years. He died young, at the age of 55.”
During the pandemic, Patrick Bourgeois’ family was shocked to learn that Patrick’s father, Raymond Bourgeois, had the same cancer as his son. “He was in the same phase. He died within a year, says Mélanie. He was 89 years old.”
Mélanie Savard mentions that she experienced many emotions last week when she learned of Karl Tremblay’s death. Like Patrick Bourgeois, he was the singer of a very popular group, Les Cowboys Fringants, and succumbed to cancer far too young, at the age of 47.
“It’s exactly my age, 47,” said Mélanie. I thought of his wife, of his children. I have a lot of empathy. We had a good 24 to 48 hours that were very emotional. In addition, prostate cancer is similar to colon cancer.”
trip snob
To raise awareness of colon cancer, Mélanie and her daughter Marie-William are selling a vintage t-shirt from the 1992 BB tour, Snob. Five dollars from every sale goes to the Canadian Cancer Society.
“It was Marie-William who had this original T-shirt from the tour. We only had one copy left! We have succeeded in producing high quality t-shirts. They are on sale until December 1st.
After the deaths of Patrick Bourgeois and Karl Tremblay, Mélanie Savard hopes that people will get tested more regularly. “If we love life, love our children and our spouse, it is important to take care of our health.”
“We will not forget his memory”
Mélanie mentions that Patrick didn’t want to talk about death until the end. “He never talked about it. We all denied it. He kept his sense of humor. He was in palliative care and talking about when he would get out.”
“I spent half my life with him. Eighteen years don’t pass. Sometimes I listen to one of his songs on the way to the grocery store and it makes me happy. We will not forget his memory.”
The work of Bourgeois and the BB will be honored again this winter with the 1980s pop group’s new tour, led by Ludovick Bourgeois. Joël Legendre directs the show.
“It will be something really beautiful,” says Mélanie. We can’t wait to see this. I think to honor him, his son is the best person. They had toured together for three years before he died.
You can purchase a BB T-shirt to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society here: https://printeez.com/les_bb