Pelletier, M. Eveline, age 88, of Oakland Park, Florida, passed away on, February 14, 2018
Eveline, is survived by her children, Marie Moecia, Gerard Pelletier, Paulette Pelletier, Jeanine McGovern, Annette Pelletier,Paul Pelletier Jr., Michelle Couris, Cecilia Pelletier (deceased), Simone DelMonaco, and Danielle Pelletier, twelve grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.
Memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, March 3rd., at 11:30 a.m., at St.Henry Catholic Church, 1500 South Andrews Avenue, Pompano Beach, Florida, 33069
Family suggests memorial gifts to , Catholic Hospice, 14875 NW 77th Avenue Suite 100, Miami Lakes, Fl 33014, or Catholichospice.org

Ma

M. Eveline (Delaney) Pelletier.  The “M” stands for Marie, but she went by Evie.  We know her as Ma.

She was a “Smoothie” as she called her girlfriend gang from high school.  I used to flip through her old photo albums – the ones with the black pages, glued-on corners that kept the photos in place, and her beautiful penmanship in white ink that labeled who was in each – and study each one.  The hairdos!  The bicycles!  The outfits!   Classic.  My favorite photos were the ones of her and Dad at the beach.  He was so handsome and she was so in love.  It must have been the 40s. 

She fell in love with Paul Joseph Pelletier Sr.  They hung out – a group of his guy pals and her.  “I was one of the guys,” she used to tell me.  I loved that about her: bold and audacious in the most quiet, sweet way possible… without ruffling any feathers.  He’d pick her up in his car (he was one of the guys that had a car) to take her out on dates.  When he proposed, he sold that car to buy her a ring. 

Theirs is a love story.  Even after bearing 10 kids in 15 years, they were both completely committed to each other.  One day, after I’d gone off to UMASS (I was the baby of the family), they invited Cecilia, Simone and me (the “three little ones”) to lunch at Wilson’s Diner.  After eating, they told us why they’d invited us out: to re-declare their love for each other.  They’d fallen in love again!  They looked at each other with love pouring out of their eyes as they finished their little speech.  Wow.

She missed him dearly after he passed on Ash Wednesday of 2000.  “I miss my best friend,” she’d say to me.  After 30+ years of taking care of us kids, she spent another 20+ years taking care of Dad.  He had rheumatoid arthritis, which limited his movement, and eventually his eye sight began to fade. She took care of him to the end.  She lost the love of her life and her best friend.

Exactly 18 years later, Evie Pelletier passed over to be with him at 12:01am on Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2018.  Valentine’s Day.  A love story to the end.

But we all know it wasn’t just Dad, but Cecilia, too, who was there to escort her to her new place.  She’d been talking to them and calling out to them in the days before.  She knew that they were near.  When she passed, she was surrounded by 4 daughters and Catholic hospice.  She passed peacefully surrounded by love.

Gerard (2nd born and first son) said it well when he said:

“…so many good things can be said for all the loving qualities she displayed from day to day. 

Easy to please, crack a smile,

and could laugh from the heart with ease!

Humble, modest, and respectful of our thoughts and choices.”

Every time I left the house, she’d call out three things: “Be a lady!  Don’t be a follower.  Be a leader.”  Those words have guided me since. 

I learned the word appreciate from her.   One afternoon when I was about six, we were driving down Chamberlain Terrace in the old dull silver car we had (well, she was driving and I was in the passenger seat without a seatbelt on.  It was the 70s) and she yelled out the car window to the caretaker of the corner house who was raking up the pears that had fallen off the tree and onto the street: “I appreciate it!”  She smiled her bright lipstick smile and waved, and he stopped and smiled back.  I had always been scared of that guy because he was tall, skinny, had sunken eyes and never spoke to anyone, but in that moment I saw a happy man.  An appreciated man.  She had a way of making people feel good about themselves.  She saw the good in everyone. 

She has given the ten of us the best gifts of all:  LIFE and her LOVE.  And her love was full and undying.

I will miss her dearly, but I know she’s in the best place she could be.  As Simone put it:

My sweet mom got her wish this morning – she’s dancing her way to heaven. 

God bless you, mom.  Rest in peace.

Now she’s our Guardian Angel.

Rest in peace, Ma.

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