Obituary of Rolande Fayter

FAYTER, Brigadier (Ret.) Rolande Violette (née Rocheleau) Rolande died on Monday, April 8, 2013 in Dundas, Ontario in her 90th year. Beloved wife of the late John Fayter. Her sister Florence and her daughter Adrienne had just died on Good Friday and Easter Sunday respectively. Rolande is survived by her brother John (Mary) Rocheleau, her son Paul (Lily), her grand-daughters Rachel and Meaghan Fayter, and various nieces and nephews. She will be missed as greatly and remembered as fiercely as she was loved. Born on March 9, 1924 in Montreal to a large French-Canadian family, Rolande was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, but was raised in the Salvation Army after her parents converted. As a young woman, she worked as a bilingual long-distance operator for Bell Telephone. After meeting John Fayter, a young anglophone minister in the Salvation Army, she fell in love, got engaged, and followed him into ministry, graduating from the old S.A. College in Toronto in 1949 (the "Peacemakers" session; she may have been the first francophone woman ordained in Canada). She and John married in 1950; together they raised a family and served inner-city poor and homeless people in communities across Canada until 1971 when they were called to Toronto to work at the Army's national headquarters. She spent years before and after their retirement in 1984 providing pastoral care to elderly persons. Rolande was passionate about life, her family, her faith in God, serving others in Christ's name, singing, baking, French art, swimming, Russian and English literature, and classical music among other things. She was a very loving mother and grandmother, and a humble, caring pastor. The family will receive friends at the HUMPHREY FUNERAL HOME A.W. MILES CHAPEL LIMITED, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Davisville Avenue) from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service in the chapel at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 11. Interment in Mount Pleasant Cemetery followed by a reception at the funeral home. If desired, donations to the Salvation Army would be appreciated. Condolences and memories may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com. Throughout her long life, heaven was Rolande's hope. Her earthly sojourn's done; heaven's now her home. Thanks be to God.