Friday, August 25, 2023
Our Aunt Jossy….Jocelyn Gauthier Kennedy
Jossy was the elder sister of our mother, Diana. She was also responsible for our parents’ meeting, and therefore played a key role in our collective creation. For the first dozen years of our lives, she was single, lived in the big city of Toronto and seemingly always had a mean cat named ‘Kitty’ (we think that there were several iterations of Kitty over the years, but Joss was committed to the nomenclature).
Jocelyn approached most situations with admirable practicality, logic and a keen eye for how overall efficiency could be improved. She had a strong bond with Diana, and together they shared a particularly deep affection for their mother Agnes (aka ‘Gwennie’), who came from a family of many self-directed women. Jocelyn’s aunties, Ethel, Sylvia, Aida and Viola (aka Babsie) all played a role in inspiring interest in education, culture, language and seeing the world.
After graduating from Notre Dame Convent in 1950, Joss would earn degrees from the University of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia, launching a teaching career that would take her to Fort Frances and Collingwood before starting a long tenure in Toronto. A bit of a trailblazer, she was frequently written up in the newspapers for her accomplishments, with each article carefully secured into a memory book by a very proud Gwennie.
Like our mother, Joss spent her teenage summers working at a northern Ontario camp for special needs youth.
In later summers, we have great memories of Jossy and David visiting us in Huntsville, and later, us visiting them in Bracebridge, where we especially enjoyed sleepovers in the Prince Albert Suite ‘bunkie’, the sandy beach, the sailboat, and honing our entry and exit skills in manners that steered clear of a Kitty Kennedy hiss.
Inside the main cottage we giggled at a growing collection of tea towels, serviettes and ceramics all featuring cats. Also of note was ‘Joss the Boss’ and ‘Bossy Jossy’ signage that appeared on the bathroom door, a wall, and even on her favourite sweatshirt. No one questioned it…Joss reveled in being the boss!
Joss loved golfing and the many friendships and social events that came with it. She was happy to teach us the game, and even allowed Mulligans on the 9 or 18 tee blocks, because it was good to end on a positive note.
Later in retirement, she and David surprised everyone by switching sports and becoming nearly professional bowlers at the Frederick Lanes in Kitchener. They recruited Diana and sometimes even Paul to join, and it was fun to watch them assess and execute their throws, before receiving energetic high-fives from every teammate.
As her nieces and nephew, we were the recipients of many interesting and generous gifts – a knife from Alaska, a jewelry box and calendar from Italy, a memory game, many decks of cards, a weather stick, wristwatches, soap on a rope, scented drawer sachets, an original painting from a cruise, language tapes and CD’s, it was always a surprise. One Christmas she even arrived with a big bag of books and distributed them randomly to us. As a great reader of French and English novels, she was happy to share some of her favourites and ask us about ours.
From Erica:
When I was in undergrad, I was struggling with a French essay on the book Agaguk, by Quebecois author Yves Theriault. Jossy and I arranged that I would go take a bus from Trent to Bracebridge and we would spend a weekend writing and editing. Frankly, I think she was horrified by my inability to write well in French, but it was a memorable experience in family support and academic rigor. She wasn’t easy on me. I wrote, edited and wrote some more, and she refused to write the essay for me, but in the end, I got an A-.
Alison:
I’ll remember Jossy for many things, among them her incredible insight, awareness, tolerance, strength, and gratitude.
Johanna:
Jossy taught me how to play golf and always called me her ‘Little J’, not to be mistaken with ‘Big J’.
Daniel:
I was Jossy’s Godson and therefore the recipient of lots of good attention. When I had kids of my own, Joss and David came to visit us in B.C., bringing great gifts for my kids, impressing us with their detailed travel itinerary, and making us laugh with very scheduled cocktail hours.
We will miss you, Jossy.
JoJo
