July 20, 1940 – June 29, 2025 

The family of Marie Louise Tahara would like to announce that she passed away peacefully with her daughter and granddaughter by her side on June 29, 2025. 

Marie is survived by her amazing daughter Nadia (Clint), granddaughter Victoria (Christian) and grandson Skyler. 

Predeceased by her mother, Germaine Gagne, father, Meride Tremblay, all of her 15 siblings and her husband, Roy Tahara in 2022. 

Marie was born July 20, 1940, in Chicoutimi, Quebec. The youngest of 16 children. Her mother passed away of tuberculosis when she was very young, thus her siblings were a large part of her upbringing. 

She got a job at the air force base where she met who would become one of her of best friends, Josie. Josie convinced her to leave everything behind and move to Kamloops, B.C. with her, her husband and five girls – this was in 1967. Marie got a job at the Commodore Café where she met a dapper bartender who offered to show her where the best spaghetti in town was. Smooth, dad, smooth. They were married on March 9, 1972. 

They had their first and only child born in 1975. They were lucky enough to celebrate their 50th anniversary (55 years together). She would kill me if I forgot to mention the five extra years! 

Marie was spunky, energetic, honest and blunt. Marie was a creature of habit and knew all the routines in the care home. She was the first to let the staff at Gemstone know when coffee was late! She worked full time, took care of all the cooking and cleaning as well as the yard work, and house maintenance. She was an excellent cook, and no one ever left our house hungry. Famous for her New Year’s Day Japanese dinners where she would feed anywhere from 50 to over 100 people over the course of the day and night. Marie was also well known for her unwavering belief in the miraculous healing powers of Vick’s Vaporub. She put it on any ailment, cut, burn, whatever, and was convinced it was the cure. For the record, it doesn’t work on heart attacks, as my dad found out. 

Marie worked very hard at various jobs after the commodore, mostly housekeeping at hotels, such as the Accent Inns where she worked for many years until her retirement. She cared for my dad, even while she was in long-term care. They had rooms on the same unit and were able to spend the last year of my dad’s life together. 

Special thanks to the ER Staff at RIH and a huge heartfelt thank you to the irreplaceable staff at Brocklehurst Gemstone, specifically the Copper 2 care aides and nurses. 

In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the Kamloops Buddhist church in Marie’s name. 

There will be no service per her request. 

You may offer a message of condolence at Cypress Funeral and Cremation Services for the Tahara family. 

• Date : 2025-06-29
• Location : Kamloops