Obituary of Searle Dufour

S. “Searle” Dufour passed peacefully and quietly on the evening of Tuesday, June 1, 2021. She was born in Regina on August 1, 1925, to parents Samuel and Mary Pawson. Searle's early years were spent in the Pawson family home on Lorne Street with her seven siblings, then studying at Central Collegiate followed by teacher training at the Saskatchewan Normal School. Searle began her teaching career in Colfax in 1946 in a one-room school. In 1948 she married Ed Dufour, who’d been a pilot during the war, and the young couple moved to Tisdale and started a family. There followed periods in Prince Albert and Medicine Hat before they returned to Regina in 1964. After further study Searle was awarded a BA in Education from the University of Regina. Career highlights for Searle included leading Harrow-de Groot School for children with special needs, and many years providing individualized teaching as principal of the Regina General Hospital School. Searle was again back in a one-room school at the “General” as she happily approached retirement from teaching. In her own words “Inspired by all those I taught, from the challenged to the gifted, I found teaching a joy.” She and Ed moved to Regina Beach in 1978. We have vivid memories of Searle on the family deck vigorously waving a towel as Ed executed a flyover. In the 1990s they spent many happy years at the Balfour Apartments, once again back in her old neighbourhood on Lorne Street. Together she and Ed shared fifty-seven wonderful years of marriage. Searle is survived by daughter Kathleen of Sechelt, B.C.; son Gary and daughter-in-law Siné MacPherson of Perth, Western Australia; three granddaughters and partners: Hollis Dufour and Samuel Saal (Paris), Meredith Dufour and Sandeep Sangha (Melbourne), and Hilaire Dufour and Joe Duffy (Perth); and two precious great-grandchildren Theodore Bruno Duffy and Finley Mae Duffy. A private graveside service will be held at Regina Cemetery, 4^th Avenue and Broad Street, Regina, SK, on Friday, June 11, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. Searle’s family wishes to thank the wonderful staff and caregivers at Dove House and College Park for their love and care of Mom. The family also wishes to thank the many, many caring companions who were always there for Mom throughout her journey. “Thank you for all the beautiful memories. They will be locked in the hearts of all who knew you and your beloved husband Ed. With love forever. Flight Plan closed 2021. Never say goodbye in grief, but rather with gratitude that she touched so many with caring kindness.”  Friends and family so wishing may make a donation, in memory of Searle, to the attention of Kim Markwart for the Scholarship Fund at Ruth Pawson School, 40 Weekes Crescent, Regina, SK S4R 6X7.

“More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.”

- E. St. Vincent Millay