1944 – 2023
It is with great sadness that we announce that Valerie Simone Houghtling, 79, of Powassan, ON, passed away on December 23rd, 2023.
Val was the daughter of the late Adeodat Charron and Lillian (Hunter) and was born in North Bay, Ontario, on June 29th ,1944. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Earle Houghtling; son, Shawn (Trish) Houghtling; daughter Amber (Ken) Lo and loving grandsons, Travis & Hunter Houghtling and Sawyer Lo.
She is also survived by her sisters Rita (Keith), Ann (Claude), Linda (Mike) and brothers Bryan (Ann Marie), and Eddie (Shelly) and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brother Glen (Sylvie) and sister Dorothy (Eddie).
As the second eldest in a family of 8 children, Val chose to exercise her maternal muscles at an early age, helping her mom and dad care for her younger siblings. As they grew, she continued to support them as well as provide the occasional rescue.
From her beginnings as the protective sister, her warmth and compassion led her into nursing. Her career saw her work in the nursery at North Bay Civic hospital (which she loved), North Bay Psychiatric Hospital as well as group homes for those with intellectual disabilities, where cherished friendships were formed.
She had an aura about her that let people know there would be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on or arms for a hug.
However, there was nothing more important to Val than children and their well-being. If you wanted to find her at any gathering, you had only to follow the sound of happy kids. She would be on the floor playing with them, listening to their stories, feeding them cookies, in general, just spoiling them. Her grandsons never wanted for anything at Grandma’s house, and on car trips they knew anything they needed would appear from Grandma’s “magic” purse.
At Val’s request, no services will be held. If you wish, memorial donations to the SickKids foundation would be greatly appreciated. Please see link below:
http://gofundraise.sickkidsfoundation.com/goto/Val_Houghtling