Guy and Monique Despatis

Guy Léandre Despatis August 7, 1938 - January 3, 2025 Monique Lorraine Despatis May 29, 1937 - March 24, 2025 Guy Léandre Despatis, aka “Ti-Guy” by his family and “Guy-Guy” by his grandkids, passed away on Friday, January 3rd, 2025 in Concord, California at the age of 86. Monique Lorraine Despatis, aka “Momo” by her grandkids, passed away Monday, March 24th, 2025 in Walnut Creek, California at the age of 87. They would have been married 65 years on May 28th, 2025. Bay Area transplants, Guy, youngest of 2 children, and Monique, the youngest of 13 children, were both born in Montréal, Québec. They married in 1960 and lived in Chiliwack, British Columbia, Petawawa and Ottawa, Ontario, Montréal and Beaconsfield, Québec and had their three daughters, Céline, Diane and Jocelyne, during that time. They moved their family to the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois in 1978 and resided in Barrington until 1984. They then moved to San Francisco Bay Area in 1984 and resided in Walnut Creek and Clayton areas for over 40 years. They were both born Canadian citizens and became American citizens in 2004. Guy attended Royal Military College of St. Jean from 1956-1958 at the age of 16 and then transferred to Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario to complete his training in the Corp of Engineers. He attended McGill University for one year and earned his degree in Electrical Engineering in 1961. He was in active service until 1964 and then remained an active reservist in the Canadian Army until 1977. At the time of his retirement from the Canadian Army, he had reached the rank of Colonel of Commandant District No. 2 of Québec at Westmount. He loved sports and was a member of the volleyball, hockey and football teams. He also enjoyed skiing, badminton, squash and racket ball. Guy worked as an electrical engineer under the supervision of Colonel Ed Churchill on Expo ’67. He joined the engineering firm of Côté, Leclair, Langlois, Boisvert based in Montréal in 1967 until 1977. He joined the ranks as an associate partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in Chicago, Illinois from 1977-1983. In 1983, Guy had an opportunity to start the engineering department as a partner at Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) in their San Francisco office and remained there until 2010. His area of expertise included ballparks, jails,airports, courthouses, business complexes in Canada, US, Algeria, Jakarta and Qatar to name a few and included significant projects such as Expo ’67 in Montréal, 1976 Olympic Buildings in Montréal, airport in Algeria, business complex in Jakarta and Doha International Airport in Qatar. Monique attended a two year home economic junior college. She was a homemaker in the early years of her marriage raising her three daughters. She then worked in retail for a number of years at Marshall Fields in Schaumburg, Illinois and then as a hostess in the dining area at Nordstrom in Walnut Creek, California. She was known as the “Hostess with the Mostest” - always dressed for the occasion. She loved cooking, shopping, dabbled in watercolor painting during her time in Chicago, loved tending to her flower garden and was an avid tennis player. Momo, as she was affectionally referred to, excelled in the art and science of home making, all for the sake of creating wonderful family gatherings, and transforming her house into a beautiful home for all who visited, and for herself and Guy to enjoy. The spread of foods were legendary and the ensuing laughter remains in the memories of all. Guy and Momo worked tirelessly together in the pursuit of family and home celebration, and they were constant companions in their abundantly blessed journey of love and marriage. Monique and Guy frequented the many gourmet restaurants and wineries of the San Francisco Bay Area and Napa Valley especially Bouchon in Yountville, Auberge du Soleil and Joseph Phelps Winery in St. Helena. They loved to travel abroad in France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Morocco as well as throughout the state of California including Carmel, Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach and San Diego. They took their annual trek to Las Vegas in the winter where they enjoyed a little gambling, live shows and fine dining and then to Montréal in the summer to visit family. While they loved life and the climate in California, they always referred to their visit back to Canada as “it’s good to be home”. They both loved to play games especially Rummy 500, Yahtzee, Mexican Train and Backgammon aka “Beat your Dad”. Guy and Monique are survived by their daughters and spouses, Céline and Joseph Coath, Diane Despatis, Jocelyne and Christopher Sweeney; their grandchildren and spouses Seamus Sweeney, Jonathan and Mia (Eppler) Coath, Sean and Kathryn (McCormick) Sweeney, Ryan Coath and Helaine Matson, and Timothy Sweeney; and their great-grandchildren, Maeve Sweeney, Kerry Sweeney and Robin Coath as well as Monique’s sisters, Pierette, Denise, Cécile and Rolande. They were preceded by Guy’s parents, René and Gabrielle Despatis, and his brother, Yvan Despatis, and by Monique’s parents, Wilfrid and Rébecca Lajeunesse, her brother, an ordained Catholic priest, Roland and her sisters, Thérèse, Juliette, Jeanne, Réjeanne, Nicole and one other sister who is believed to have died at birth or soon after. A small funeral rite ceremony was held at St. Patrick Church in Grass Valley, California on Saturday, April 26th for immediate family. The remains of Monique and Guy will be returned to Montréal at a later date to be buried in St. Laurent Parish Cemetery, Québec in the Despatis family plot.