Doris Alice (Paasila) Lehoux

Doris Alice Lehoux (nee Paasila) of Salmon Arm, BC, graduated from Earth to Heaven on Monday, October 07, 2024.  After a long illness she passed away peacefully with her son Jerry, by her side.

Doris was born at Hearst, Ontario on November 11, 1937 to parents Otto and Roosa Paasila.  Sadly, her mother passed away 10 years later.

She grew up with her two brothers and 3 sisters on a small farm.  She loved animals, especially cats, reading novels, enjoyed school and dreamed about becoming an actress. Sometime after completing grade 10, Doris began working as a Cookee for Newago Timber in Mosher, Ontario.  This is where she met and fell in love with her future husband.

Doris and Jean Roch married on October 18, 1958 at Coppell, Ontario.  Their family grew, Robert (Bobby) was born in 1959 and Gerald (Jerry) in 1960.  They moved to Fort William, Ontario in 1967.  Besides being a loving and caring mother, she worked as a Health Care Aide for 25 years, retiring in 1997.  Doris loved caring for others that couldn't care for themselves; and she Loved Jesus.  Her husband passed away in 1992 at the age of 54.

Doris was looking for a change and wanted to live closer to her son, Jerry, and younger sister, Helen, so she moved to Calgary in 2002.  Jerry and Brenda moved to Kelowna, BC in 2005, so Doris wanted to try something different, and left Calgary in 2007, moving to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to live closer to her other son, Bob and family in 2007.  She returned to Thunder Bay, Ontario in 2009, moving to Kelowna, BC, in 2014, then moved one last time in 2020, to the Good Samaritan Hillside Village Nursing Home in Salmon Arm, BC.  Moving companies loved her.

Doris always enjoyed being with and entertaining family and friends, travelling across Canada by car or plane, visiting other countries (USA -Las Vegas, Florida & Hawaii; Mexico, Jamaica), camping and going to dances.  Doris and Jean Roch especially enjoyed a trip to Finland in 1973 to see her Paasila relatives.

Some of her hobbies were knitting, crocheting, bowling and Chinese cooking.  She volunteered at the SPCA, sitting with cats and kittens. Doris was fluent in Finnish, French and could get by with Spanish.  She had an impish smile and sense of humour, and her bluntness would shock everyone.

Doris is survived by her two sons:

Jerry, wife Brenda Wood and step-son Justin Marshall, wife Leha and daughters Sophia and Ava; step-daughter Crystal Wood and daughters Jayde and Jordyn.

Bob, wife Sandy and son James.  Also, survived by sister in-law Gaby Paasila (wife of Pentti), and brother in-law Nick Jurynec (husband of Laila).

She was predeceased by: her husband Jean Roch, parents Otto and Roosa, brothers Paul and Pentti, and sisters Sanni, Helen and Laila; brother in-laws Alberic Fortin (husband of Sanni) and Mike Melnychuk (husband of Helen); sister in-law Elsie Salo (wife of Paul).

If friends and relatives desire, memorial tributes may be made to a local SPCA on her behalf.

Thank you & God Bless.