It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Anne Elizabeth Focsaneanu, (née Carter) who left us unexpectedly but peacefully on June 28th, 2026, at the age of 77, while visiting family in Caledonia, Nova Scotia.
Anne lived a rich life full of kindness, selflessness, and joy. She was born July 6th 1948, in Saint John, New Brunswick to John and Marie Carter (later Murray). They moved to Oromocto, New Brunswick in 1957, where she graduated from the Clerk-Typist program at Oromocto High School in 1968.
While working as a clerk-typist in the X-Ray Department of the Oromocto Hospital, she met her husband, Georges Focsaneanu, in 1969. After a whirlwind romance, they were married November 14th 1970. Thus began a wonderful partnership that spanned over fifty-five years, endured long distances apart, and thrived during several moves between different countries.
The happy couple welcomed their first daughter, Marie-Nicole, in 1973, and second, Kathy-Sarah, in 1979. After many years of moving around, the family eventually settled in their Blackburn Hamlet home affectionately known as “the Foxes Den”.
In addition to raising two daughters while Georges served abroad, Anne kept her days busy with a variety of jobs and activities, from volunteering with children at the local elementary school to working part-time as a seamstress.
In 2001, Georges and Anne started a new chapter together in Bangkok, Thailand, where she felt right at home in the bustling city, navigating the local markets and immersing herself in the Thai culture. There, she continued to express immeasurable compassion and generosity by volunteering at a local orphanage.
In 2003, they returned to Canada for good, and Anne found happiness tending her enviable garden, fishing at Loughborough Lake, taking long walks or going kayaking, and spending time with her beloved granddaughters, Hannah and Laura-Beth (in Nova Scotia) and Natasha. In recent years, she found both friendship and purpose working with the Catholic Women’s League of The Good Shepherd Parish in Blackburn Hamlet.
Beyond her kindness and thoughtfulness, Anne will best be remembered for her remarkable ability to connect with others, to listen, and make anyone she met feel special. She had an extraordinary kind of magic where she could spend one hour with a stranger and leave with a new best friend. She will be deeply missed by all those who had the privilege of knowing her.
Anne leaves behind an enduring legacy of love and will be lovingly remembered by her husband Georges; daughter Marie-Nicole, her husband Richard, and granddaughters Natasha, Hannah and Laura Beth; daughter Kathy-Sarah and her husband Waleed; her brothers David Carter and Stephen Carter; her sister Peggy and her husband David; her sister-in-law Geraldine Carter, and many cousins, nieces and nephews and dear friends. She was predeceased by her parents, her stepfather Patrick Murray, her brother Douglas Carter, and her brother-in-law Allen Selby.
A celebration of Anne’s life will be held Wednesday July 8th in the Sacred Space of the Beechwood National Memorial Centre, 280 Beechwood Ave, Ottawa at 1:00pm followed by interment and a reception. Those unable to attend in person are invited to join us via live stream.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make donations to your favourite children’s charity or to the Catholic Women’s League of the Good Shepherd Parish.
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