There’s a bittersweet ending to the saga of Patricia Trudeau, the ‘Agatha Christie’ of St. Albert. The grande dame of art and several Agnes Carroll mystery novels passed away at the end of February leaving a legacy writing project unfinished, canvases still needing their final strokes. She was 89.
The Renaissance Lady lived a simple life, and a life simply and utterly devoted to learning and being creative. It might surprise many to know that before the painter’s brush and the typewriter channelled her unique spirit through her art forms, there was another calling that occupied her – and it wasn’t teaching, though she held that profession for three decades, too.
She was a nun until the age of 43, according to her cousin twice-removed Jessica Brezovski, whose grandmother was Trudeau’s cousin. They were very close relatives otherwise, as both were the only family members living in St. Albert.
After Trudeau graduated from high school, she joined the Sisters of St. Joseph in Petersborough, Ontario. The religious order was a good fit with her faith and her personality, but there was a drive deep within her that she could not ignore.
“I asked her actually not that long ago, ‘What made you decide to ‘de-nun’ yourself, to leave?’” Brezovski continued. “She said it was because she felt like she was a very creative woman and she felt very constrained. She just felt like there was so much in her and it was holding her back from expanding on knowledge, and just being able to see and do things.”
Through her remaining 46 years, Trudeau did see and do much, though she still remained faithful to her vows, remained single and lived very modestly. Brezovski said it wasn’t a life of poverty but Patsy, as she called her, was not at all materialistic, holding on to every scrap she could and pinching pennies with the best of them.
She didn't spend a lot of money on frivolous things, she said.
Instead, she travelled to see the world and find inspiration for her paintings. She travelled and she read books. Her house was a veritable repository of the world’s knowledge and she was a vessel receiving it all.
“Books were her passion, for sure. Books and art ... and art supplies, which would be where she would spend her money. And then she, from what I understand, did a ton of travelling. She would travel to Europe just to basically paint landscapes, paint buildings,” she continued, noting how inspired she was by Patsy’s voracious drive to learn languages and history and so much more.
She also remarked on how unflappable she was. Patsy was never stressed and never showed any fear, either. She just put herself out there and took everything as it came, never missing a stride.
Trudeau moved to the quieter, smaller St. Albert, finding a reasonable townhome in serene Grandin where she could set up a studio and put up bookshelves – many bookshelves. She was an active member of the St. Albert Painters’ Guild, the Visual Arts Studio Association and various writing groups including the Saint City Writers.
She started publishing those Agnes Carroll stories in the early 2000s, with her last contribution arriving only last summer. Her last exhibit of artwork is currently on display at the St. Albert Public Library. She simply never stopped producing art if she could help it.
“It's incredible. Her basement was full of art. It's amazing how many pieces that she's produced over the years.”
Trudeau managed to live on her own all these years, too.
According to Brezovski, Patsy was hard at work on a memoir though ill health troubled her in the last years. She had previously fought and won a bout with breast cancer, but a more recent lung cancer diagnosis was a more sinister foe for which she refused treatment. Dogged pneumonia set in repeatedly, forcing her to carry an oxygen tank and move to an assisted living facility, which she was in a prolonged process of doing.
Moving all those books, you see, was a chore, Brezovski admitted. It has all been a bit overwhelming to the younger relative. The loss to her and to this small city’s cultural community is enormous.
“I know she wanted to finish things her way before she left. She didn't get a chance to do that.”
A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 13, at St. Albert Catholic Parish, 7 St. Vital Ave. Those who wish can make memorial donations in dear Pat’s name to the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
