Jennifer Anne Bailliu passed away at the home of her daughter Leslie, surrounded with the love of her family, on Oct. 16, 2022. She was 79.
Jennifer was the daughter of the late naval surgeon Lt.-Cmdr. Roderick Ross of Vineland Station, Ont., and the late Margaret Jaques of Westmount, Que. Beloved wife for 60 years of Lt.-Col. Jacques Julien Bailliu (ret’d), OMM; loving mother of Leslie Anne (David Kenny), Jeannine Natasha, and Anne Geneviève; and cherished Mamie to Alizé, Daphné, Julien, Liam, and Daniel. She is survived by sister Marlee Ross and brothers Lex and David Ross and fondly remembered by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Jennifer completed high school in Toronto. She graduated from Queen’s and the University of Toronto (master’s in education, 1979). Given the vagaries of 30 years of life as a military spouse (Quebec City, Werl and Lahr in Germany, Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, Ottawa, etc.) and within her role as head of the family, she amazingly managed to always balance raising her family and, concurrently, contributing to society by working and volunteering in her field of vocational counselling for at-risk teenagers and adults, in education and addiction rehabilitation.
For 30 years, she loved to be a welcoming hostess at the family cottage and, as a synchronized and long-distance swimmer, she was a familiar sight in the waters of Lac Corbeau, Que. For 20 years, she enjoyed springtime in a little house lost among the vineyards of Montfort-sur-Argens (Provence). Hiking (including the El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, Spain) and a passion for exploring new horizons led to worldwide travelling, including: Europe, Egypt, French Polynesia, China, Russia, Southeast Asia, and South America, which kept her fit and her adventurous mind wide open.