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May 1, 2023
In loving memory ~
Our dear mother, sister, grandmother, wife, auntie, and friend Clarisse Robilala Ostrowski, entered into God's Kingdom on May 1st in Langley, British Columbia. Clarisse was 74 and left this world after a period of illness. In Heaven, Clarisse joins her parents, Charles and Christine, and her brothers Jean Richard and Gaston.
Clarisse was born to Charles and Christine in Tananarive (Antananarivo), Madagascar. A member of the Catholic Church from a young age, Clarisse attended a French-language convent school before attending the University of Antananarivo where she studied English. After 2 years at the University of Antananarivo writing poetry and teaching French, Clarisse received a scholarship to study English in Laval, Quebec.
In 1972 she married Wojciech in Toronto, which is also where their first daughter, Zosia, was born. The family moved to Vancouver a year later in 1974. Clarisse and Wojciech went on to have a second daughter, Bronislawa (Bronia) and settled a few years later in Langley in 1982. Clarisse was a passionate and loyal homemaker and deeply devoted to her faith. While raising her family, Clarisse explored interests in music and poetry, filling the house with sweet, uplifting sounds of her singing, and learning to play the saxophone. She also developed exceptional skills as a home chef and insisted on always cooking healthy meals from scratch. Clarisse truly appreciated long walks, aesthetic art, gardens, flowers, and nature and cherished the beauty of imperfection and ephemerality. She was a chic and courageous woman who was well ahead of her time, forbidding the use of harsh household chemicals in her home and garden and insisting on using thrifted items for her home decor as well as for her unique and stylish wardrobe decades before it became fashionable to do so, regardless of what others thought. Her caring nature extended to fellow parish members, friends, and animals and even a stray dog, Fennec.
Clarisse was passionate about sharing the love of her faith with others. Now that she has passed into the arms of the Lord, we comfort ourselves by knowing that this is the beginning of an eternal and beautiful journey for Clarisse.
Clarisse is survived by many loving family members, including husband Wojciech, daughters Zosia and Bronislawa (Bronia), son-in-law Paul, grandchildren Aylin and Evan, sisters Lucie, Charline, Raobisoa ("Lydie"), brother Robson Charles ("DouDou"), and many nieces and nephews.
The family welcomes donations to the BC Schizophrenia Society (https://www.bcss.org/) as an expression of sympathy.
"Never lose an opportunity of seeinganything that is beautiful;for beauty is God's handwriting - a waysidesacrament.Welcome it in every fair flower,And thank God for it as a cup of blessing."~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


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