It is with immense sadness we, at Goodfellow Inc., announce the passing of Rose Ann Loranger recently after a valiant fight with cancer. Loranger was a wonderful person and cherished member of the Goodfellow family. The industry has lost a strong, radiant and successful woman.
A native of Sudbury, she came to Montreal over 30 years ago after working for the G.W. Martin Lumber Company – a pine sawmill near Algonquin Park in Ontario. Seeking a new life and new opportunities, she joined us as an assistant to André Rocquebrune, our White Pine Product Manager at the time, whereby she already had good knowledge of this business.
She met her husband Gilbert through their shared love of horses and animals in general, as he was an accomplished horseman at Blue Bonnets Raceway. Losing Gilbert a number of years later was a major blow, but she was able to move forward and decided to take on an even greater role in the success of the Company.
Following Rocquebrune’s retirement, Loranger became the head of the White Pine business. Much success followed as she spearheaded establishing Goodfellow as a major Canadian processor and distributor of White Pine products both at home and in the U.K. She was deservingly promoted to Vice-President and became a valuable member of the management team for many prosperous years.
Loranger’s work with the branches across Canada was exemplary and everyone enjoyed working with her. This also applied to our long-standing suppliers and many of our customers. To many, Loranger was truly the face of Goodfellow and became an example to other women across our company and the industry at all levels.
We deeply mourn her loss, and we will miss her cheery voice, her interest in the well-being of others and her pride in being a true lumber lady.
Join us in expressing our deepest sympathies to her partner Steve Solomon and her sister Annette Loranger who stood by her over these last few difficult months. Her confidante and close friend at Goodfellow, Carolyn MacArthur, will gladly receive good wishes, sympathies and anecdotes about Loranger at cmacarthur@goodfellowinc.com.
