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GIBBS-WONG, Marie-Astrid, peacefully on July 5, 2023, at the age of 87, in Saint Louis-de-Kent, New Brunswick. Beloved wife to Kenneth Wong (predeceased) for 52 years and survived by her three children; Normand (Karine), Kenneth (Catherine), and Daniel (Tassie), and her 8 grandchildren; Benjamin, Samuel, Shannon, Isaac, Mackenzie, Chloe, Lilah and Clara. Born in Baie-Sainte-Anne, Nouveau Brunswick she was the daughter of Wright Gibbs and Imelda Schofield. She is fondly remembered by her sisters Phylis and Dorita and was pre-deceased by siblings; Loraine, Walter, Fernand, Mildred, Willie, Lionel and Julienne. Also survived by her favourite outlaws - Bill Rushworth (Dorita), Paul Bray (Mildred), Doreen Gibbs (Willie) and Françoise Viger (Fernand), and her many, many nieces and nephews.
After graduating from high school in Saint-Louis, she went on to become a teacher, like many of her sisters, and taught in her hometown of Baie Sainte Anne, Baie Comeau, QC and on the airbase in Chatham, NB, where soon after her arrival she would meet her future husband, Flight Officer Kenneth Wong. Their first date was the Hallowe’en Dance at the Officers’ Mess and ten months later they were married at Sainte Anne Church in the Baie (August 18, 1962). Astrid used to say that she followed Ken around on his postings, but in reality, Ken only took three postings during his career; Chatham, where he met Astrid, Zweibrucken, West Germany, where her two youngest sons were born and Ottawa, where they would live for the next 29 years. Astrid likely felt like she was following Ken around because her heart always belonged to the Baie, and as soon as Ken retired, she immediately returned to Baie Sainte Anne, where she would embark on her favorite and last career - being a poet and a writer. Astrid loved to talk about current events and the issues of the day with whoever would sit down to tea with her, and loved all other forms of intellectual pursuits, especially Scrabble. She obtained her BA (lettres françaises) from the University of Ottawa in her mid-fifties and used that as an impetus to start writing. She published five books during her second career, all of which spoke to the love she had for Acadian culture and les Madelinots. In 2001, she won the ‘Coup de coeur’ at the Caraquet Poetry Festival and has two of her historical collections of short stories on display at the Anselme Chiasson Centre for Acadian Studies at the University of Moncton.
While the last several years of Astrid’s life were full of health issues, especially after the passing of Ken in 2014, she will be remembered for her love of life, her sense of style, her determination and her grit. She was a very tough woman that overcame too many obstacles to count. She was far from a perfect person, but her love for her family and resolve about things that mattered to her were undeniable.
It is said that, "everyone is unique," but Astrid was truly one of a kind.
The Wong family would like to thank the excellent staff at the Villa Maria and their care for Astrid over the last five years, especially Gisèle Daigle and Vileda Gallant, whose good spirit and even temperament won Astrid over. We would also like to thank Emily, Cecile, Pauline and the other nurses who cared for Astrid in her final days. Finally, we would like to thank all the family that came to visit our mother and kept vigil during her final days and nights, especially Joanne and Candide Schofield, Astrid’s first cousins and daughters of her late Godfather, Normand Schofield.
Friends may pay respects at the Funeral Mass, which will be held on July 31, 2023 at 10:00 am at Paroisse Sainte Anne, in Baie Sainte Anne, New Brunswick. In lieu of flowers, donations could be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
Funeral arrangements are under the professional care of Thompson’s Funeral Home in Richibucto, NB (523-4252).