The park on Mont-Royal Street in the Sainte-Rose district will now be named Lee-Brault Park, named after the founder of the Association Parents Uniques de Laval in the early 1970s.
Approved by the municipal council on June 4, this decision follows a request brought to the attention of the Laval Toponymy Committee last November by the Member of Parliament for Mille-Îles and former municipal councilor of Sainte-Rose, Virginie Dufour.
“Madame Lee Brault was a notable personality in the history of Sainte-Rose,” declared municipal councilor Pierre Brabant, who also chairs the destiny of this committee responsible for applying the Toponymic naming policy. “The Laval community owes him a lot,” continued the elected official when adopting the resolution.
Pioneer
On the phone this Thursday morning, Mr. Brabant said he was both “so happy and very proud of this appointment” which perpetuates the memory of “a lady committed to her community and who was a pioneer at a time when it was sometimes difficult for women’s rights.
The one who lived in the Sainte-Rose-de-Lima parish for three-quarters of a century died on February 2, 2023 at the age of 95.
In a report from Courier Laval published last fall, Gerry Brault, the youngest of her three sons, recalled that his mother worked all her life serving the community.
Head of a single parent family at the turn of the sixties, Ms. Brault, born Leona Crowley, quickly worked to support those who found themselves in the same situation at a time when prejudices were tenacious against divorced women. “We were singled out,” confided Alain, his eldest son.
“The meetings took place in the dining room,” recalled his brother Gerry, recalling the first years of the Association Single Parents of Laval which had taken root in the family home on rue Clarence-Gagnon, located one street to the west of the park which today honors and perpetuates the memory of his late mother.
Incidentally, if over the years this NPO has changed its name to Grouping of single-parent and blended families in Laval before becoming Family Perspectivehis telephone number – which initially was that of the Brault family residence – has remained unchanged, the youngest of the family proudly pointed out in an interview last November.
In 2015, on the occasion of the celebrations of the 275th anniversary of the Sainte-Rose-de-Lima parish, priest Michel Bouchard named her honorary president of the Marguerite-D’Youville Merits, a distinction awarded to a dozen “pillars” from the community.
Thirty years earlier, in 1985, the City of Laval already highlighted the exceptional contribution of Lee Brault during the very first annual edition of the Evening Tribute to Volunteers.
In the coming months, a formal ceremony will mark the event during the unveiling of the new municipal sign at Lee Brault Park.
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