Vera Delacourt

The world lost two formidable women this week. One was a reigning monarch; the other, Vera Delacourt, was the queen of the hearts of so many around her in her nearly 90 years on this earth, especially her family who are going to miss her very much. 

Born in 1933 in Bray, a seaside town in Ireland’s Wicklow County, Vera was the daughter of John and Mary McCarthy, beloved youngest sister of Kathleen, Marie and Carmel, older sister to twins Paddy and Michael McCarthy.  Vera embraced that family all her life – the nieces and nephews in Ireland, Canada and England and all their children too, who delighted her. 

Vera’s life in Canada began in 1957 when she arrived in this country and not long afterward met the love of her life, John Delacourt, who had come to Canada from Glasgow, Scotland not long before.  They were married in late 1957 and spent the next 60 years together. Their two lucky children, Susan and John, grew up in a family filled with love and laughter, surrounded by the many friends their parents gathered along the way. Theirs was a home filled with funny stories, Vera’s practical jokes and all the delicious things she would whip up in her kitchen, including her famous shortbread, which she made for the many who loved her. 

Vera fiercely loved Susan’s husband, Don Lenihan, and John’s wife, Andrea Stewart, who returned all that love and care in large and small ways all the time. But Vera also cherished her special relationships with others such as Susan’s dearest friends Ann Lawson-Brehl, the Harada-Poulter family and Jean-Michel Lenihan and Andrea Busuttil. Her conception of family, with her characteristic warmth, affection and enduring love, just naturally transcended conventional ties.

Vera lit up whatever room she was in with that sparkling smile. Wherever she devoted her efforts, she excelled, most notably as the owner of Delacourt’s gift store at the corner of Main and Martin streets in Milton, Ontario.  Like Vera herself, the store was a sparkling mix of beauty and community; at the beating heart of the town, especially around holidays.  Every customer was a friend. Every sale added something pretty to people’s lives. 

In 2000, Vera and John moved to Ottawa, a bold new beginning that they embraced with the same adventure that brought them to Canada in the 1950s. As usual, Vera plunged into the heart of the community, volunteering with May Court Club and amassing a whole new set of friends with Ottawa Newcomers and later at the Rockcliffe Retirement residence, where she lived after John left this world in 2017. 

Vera  was recognized many times for the way she poured her heart into community service,  whether it was as a volunteer for the Milton Hospital Auxiliary, Businesswoman of the Year in Milton or recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. Her family was proud of her every single day of her life. Many people would tell her children through the years that they were lucky to have Vera Delacourt as their mother. That observation was correct. 

There will be a Celebration of Vera’s Life on Thursday, September 29, 2022, at Beechwood Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Services (280 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa) from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. but there are other ways to honour that huge heart of hers. A donation in her name to Milton’s Hospital Auxiliary, to the May Court Club of Ottawa or Elisabeth Bruyere Hospital would do her proud.  Her family and many friends will honour Vera’s legacy with all she taught us, through daily kindness, smiles for everyone and never forgetting to tell those closest to us that we love them so  much.