Obituary of Rolande PAREL (nee Kursner)

March 27, 1935 – Montreal, Quebec

May 29, 2020 – Calgary, Alberta

Rolande Parel, beloved wife of Anthony Parel, of Calgary, AB passed away on Friday, May 29, 2020 at the age of 85 years at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary,

Alberta.

Rolande was born on March 27th, 1935 in Montreal, Quebec, to Betty and Harry Kursner. She valued education and family above all. Throughout her life she nurtured her need to be intellectually challenged. She left home at 16, worked in the day and went to high school at night. She went on to achieve a B.A. (Honours) from Concordia University (1966), a M.A. from the University of Calgary (1969), a M. Ed from the University of Calgary (1979), and a Ph.D from Lancaster University (1999). Rolande taught in the Calgary Catholic Separate School system for twenty-six years. She spent most of her teaching career at St. Mary’s High School, where she taught English Literature. In 1986 she wrote the history of the school (Saint Mary’s School: The First Hundred Years). In 1981 she became a certified reading clinician, specializing in teaching children for whom English was their second language. Her curiosity and concern for these children led her to develop a strategy for teaching second languages more effectively and efficiently, through morphological awareness. This was the subject of her Ph.D and subsequent teaching and publications. Rolande loved reading and knew from her own experience how it can change a person’s life. She once wrote: “The importance of developing the ability to read, interpret and evaluate expository text cannot be overstated. Not only is it an important variable for the growth of personal knowledge, but it is the essential prerequisite for the pursuit of professional activity and the exercise of responsible citizenship.” Rolande was a voracious reader. She especially loved crime novels.

Rolande came from an Eastern European Jewish background, a complex and traumatized family that she left when she left Montreal. She was a Roman Catholic convert yet remained a Messianic Jew. Open to all people and all religions, she was acutely aware of the menace of racism and anti-Semitism. As a teenager in Montreal, she was hired to record the stories recounted by Holocaust survivors who were newly arrived in Canada. Later in life Rolande researched her family history and discovered that while her ancestors on her grandfather’s side were accomplished musicians in Russia, the entire family on her grandmother’s side was wiped out in the Holocaust. She used to say that she shared the Jewish mission of ‘tikkun olam’: to repair the world.

Rolande had a deep appreciation for art. She loved opera. Puccini’s La Boheme was her hands down favorite. From a young age Rolande wanted to be a painter. As a child she attended a summer program taught by several members of the Group of Seven and their wives. The experience stayed with her throughout her life. She did not have the opportunity to devote herself to her art until her last few years, at United Active Living Garrison Green. At any time of the day or night she could be found in the art room there, losing herself in learning a new painting technique, creating a world in her frame. Rolande never stopped learning. She spent thousands of hours on the internet, researching! Scouring medical journals to learn all she could about her many medical conditions, including ones that she didn’t have but that might arise; investigating her family history, which had always been for her, shrouded in mystery; forever improving her bridge skills; and finding new and better recipes.

Rolande was passionate about cooking for her family and friends – she loved Indian food, particularly food from Kerala, the homeland of her husband Anthony. Rolande met Anthony Parel in Calgary in 1966. She was a Masters’ student on scholarship from Quebec, studying European History. He was a newly hired professor in the Department of Political Science. Together Anthony and Rolande were a powerhouse of intellectual curiosity and mutual love. In February 2020 they celebrated 53 years of marriage.

Rolande’s legacy is her contribution to education and scholarship as much as it is the family she built in Montreal and in Calgary. She loved each of us for who we are, was infinitely proud of even the smallest of our accomplishments, supported our endeavours unwaveringly, and just as unwaveringly worried about our safety walking home or crossing the road. We will miss her dearly and remember her with the deepest love and gratitude.

Rolande is survived by her husband Anthony Parel; daughters, Tara Wilson and Kamala Parel-Nuttall (Evan Nuttall); son Earl Wyllie (Lesley London), grandsons, Aidan Wilson, Asher Wilson, Jacob Strickland, Aaron Strickland, and Caleb Nuttall; granddaughters, Rachel Wyllie (John Thomson), Meagan Wyllie (Tyler Hay), Samantha Wyllie (Lanny Ellson), and Sasha Nuttall; and great-grandchildren, Eli Ellson, Fae Ellson, Ava Hay, Leah Adelin-Hay, and Tristan Thomson, and sister, Isabel Darin-Zanco.

A Funeral Service for Rolande will be held at a future date. Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Rolande’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com.

The family would like to thank the staff and management at United Active Living at Garrison Green, and the staff and management at the Foothills Hospital, Unit 62.

In living memory of Rolande Parel, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis and Holloway Funeral Homes, Park Memorial, 5008 Elbow Drive SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2L5, Telephone: 403-243-8200.