Dr. J. Noel Antoine Robitaille
December 22, 1929 - April 21, 2019

ROBITAILLE, NOEL, M.D. (December 22nd, 1929 - April 21st, 2019) The Robitaille family, in its grief, announces the death of their father, Dr. Joseph Noel Antoine Robitaille. He was the beloved son "La couenne" of Augustin Robitaille and Yvonne Denis; born in Ste-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Quebec, and died in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Cherished sibling of: predeceased Camille "Pataud" (late Yvonne Denis); Carmelle "Corneille" (late Laurent Marcotte); predeceased Marie-Alice "Teta" (late Paul-Emile Beaumont); predeceased Alcide "Bidon" (late Yvonne Langis); predeceased Jean-Louis "La Suce" (late Adrienne Tremblay); predeceased Roland "Tiguann" (late Pauline Martel); predeceased Raymond "Cacoune" (Gabrielle Genois); Magella "Cacotte" (Pierrette Ranger); predeceased Charles-Auguste "Ti-Charles"; predeceased Damas "Pochu" (Micheline Turgeon); predeceased Jean-Guy "Ticoune" (Claire Linteau), predeceased Madeleine and predeceased Joseph. Predeceased by his first wife, Jacqueline Roy, his grandson Maximilien and his great-grandson Raphael. He is survived by his 10 children: Christine, Helene (Gervais Bedard), Pierre-Marie (Patricia Helgeson), Chantal, Jeanne (Fredrick Brohart), Patrice (Manon Ratte), Lucie (Ronald Raymond), Lydia, Stephanie, and Mireille (John McNeil); 27 grandchildren (Roxane, Alexandre, Sonia, Karl, Genevieve, Jacob, Christophe, Luc, Cassandre, Matthieu, François-Xavier, Veronique, Samuel, Joseph, Myriam, Jean-Sebastien, Katéri, Anika, Zachary, Marie, Sarah, Etienne, Jean, Gilles, Fabienne, Louis, Gabrielle, Ambroise) and 13 great-grandchildren (Megan, Theogenes, Anne-Claire, Olivier, Florent, Simone, Daniel, Benoît, Mikai, Liliane, Eva, Noah, Samuel); his second wife Bernice Brock and her three children: Beverly (Cindy Masson), Cathy (Jim Varrin) and Jo-Anne, and 7 grandchildren (Jeff, Jennifer, Matthew, Mark, Danny, Trish, Tanya) and 15 great-grandchildren (Liam, Bryce, Evan, Rylan, Aston, Riley, Emma, Jake, Tori, James, Allison, Justin, Kyla, Malcolm, Presley) and 1 gr-gr-granddaughter (Lynkinn). He is also survived by a large extended family in the Quebec City/Montreal area. Alumnus of the historically recognized Seminaire de Quebec, he earned his Bachelors in 1953. He then graduated from Universite Laval with a Doctor of Medicine, Cum Laude in 1959. He served Her Majesty as a physician in the Royal Canadian Air Force, then as an Ontario Provincial Coroner. Moving on to private practice, he worked with passion and dedication for more than 50 years, delivering over 800 babies. He arrived in Iowa in 1978, and practiced at St. Francis and Allen Hospitals in Waterloo, and finally in La Porte City--the town and people he came to love. He retired from medicine in 2013. He was a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus. On November 13, 2013, he was thanked by the Office of Governor Branstad and Lt Governor Kim Reynolds for his service to the people of Iowa. Among his most notable accomplishments: on February 6th, 1964, he became the first white man in Canadian history to be designated honorary Grand Chief . The ceremony was led by Chief Sissenah and took place in Sagamok, Ontario, part of the Three Fires Confederacy of the Ojibway Nation. He took the name Ke-chu-twa-ghizhigud [Holy Day], in recognition of his dedication to and respect for the Ojibway community. He fluently spoke their language. An avid aviator; a fisherman; a hunter; a true naturalist; a hobby photographer; an amateur organist; an around-the-house handy-man; a man of science and technology; a brilliant linguist; a competitive chess player; a folklore violinist: forever proud of his French-Canadian heritage and family history. Relatives and friends are invited to meet at Sacred Heart Church in LaPorte City on April 25th, 2019 from 6:30-8pm with recitation of the Most Holy Rosary at 7 pm. A Roman Catholic funeral Mass will be held at the same location on Friday, April 26th at 11 am . Lunch will be provided. Donations in his name can be made to the Sagamok-Anishnawbek School Board (4007 Espaniel Street, P.O. Box 610 Massy, Ontario P0P 1P0). Interment will take place at a later date in Espanola, Ontario, Canada. Requiescet in pace

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