Mrs. Erica Desjarlais of North Battleford, passed away unexpectedly at her residence on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 in North Battleford at the age of 63 years. A funeral service will be held on Monday, October 2, 2017 @ 10:00 a.m. from the Living Faith Chapel with Pastor Al Huckabay officiating. A public visitation for friends and family will be held on Sunday, October 1, 2017 between the hours of 7-9 in the evening, also from the Living Faith Chapel. Memorial donations in memory of Erica may be directed to the Heart & Stroke Foundation 1738 Quebec Ave #26, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1V9 or to the Battlefords Interval House 2092 102 St, North Battleford, SK S9A 1H7. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Trevor Watts of Eternal Memories Funeral Service & Crematorium. For those wishing to leave a condolence you may do so at www.eternalmemoriesfuneral.ca.

Erica Emma (Haus) Desjarlais was born on March 18, 1954 to Edward and Hertha (Leippi) Haus and was the eldest of four girls. After spending the first six years of her live in the small hamlet of Zehner, the family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan. As a child Erica was actively involved in both school and church, where her love of education started. During the summers, the family would spend time at Last Mountain Lake where Mom and Ruth spent time fishing with Dad, cleaning the catch of the day, catching frogs, and spending countless hours swimming, a skill which Mom had belief it or not! As Mom approached her teenage years, her hobbies and family remained a constant and she loved reminiscing on these times in her life. Deciding a to marry at a young age was partnered with the decision to start a family soon thereafter. She and Wilfred welcomed into the world nine children: Eddy (Elise) Desjarlais, Steven (Darlene) Desjarlais, Michael (Orchid) Desjarlais, Jackie (David) Desjarlais, Erica (Darcy) Leibel, Crystal (Rodney) Wiebe, Owen (Marcy) Desjarlais, Timothy (Chelsea) Desjarlais, and Scott Desjarlais, and we all have the pleasure of calling her Mom. As much as Mom was proud of all of us kids, she was especially proud of her fifteen grandchildren: Keith (Caitlin), Daine, Curtis, Jeremy, Maegan, Clint, Kerri (Hutley), Raymond, Monique, Brittney, Elle, Matthew, Nathaniel, Brooklyn, Vesper and four great grandchildren: Ashayna, Jeremy, Rosa, Bentley

While raising her kids, Mom made the time to successfully complete her post-secondary education, and fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. She certainly had enough experience raising all of us, so she felt she might as well start getting paid for it! This passion brought the family to North Battleford where she spent the next twenty years making lifelong friends and impacting the lives of hundreds of students and staff members at McKitrick Elementary School. She was regularly seen at school on Sundays preparing for the upcoming weeks lessons and extracurricular events, but still managing to keep the family first, never missing an opportunity to host a family event, make a birthday phone call and send a text just to say she was thinking of you. In addition to the love of family and teaching, mom also had a desire to give back to the community to those organizations that were close to her heart.

For these reasons and many more, Mom will forever have a special place in our minds, our memories and our hearts. For every one of us that had the pleasure of spending a moment with our Mom, our lives are better for it and forever impacted in the most positive way.

• Date : 2017-09-26
• Location : North Battleford, Saskatchewan