Mario Gaëtan Jean-Marc Lavoie ( May 07, 2001 – July 14, 2021)
Mario Lavoie was born on May 7th, 2001, in North Bay to Patrick Lavoie and Sylvie Breton-Lavoie.
Mario went to elementary school at École Pavillon Héritage and École Publique Héritage. A kind and gentle soul, Mario took a big interest in video games and card games like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!. He shared these hobbies with his brother and his friends. Later, he took up sports as well, such as basketball, tennis, curling, and his favourite, downhill skiing. But, he would really take up any opportunity to be around his beloved friends, even if the activities weren't his cup of tea! He also spent many summers at the family cottage.
A bit shy and reserved at first, Mario truly blossomed at École Secondaire Catholique Algonquin, where he was a member of the Café Chantant music group. This is where he found his love for guitar and music, and where he could also share his optimistic outlook and his serene, happy-go-lucky spirit. He was also involved in sporting teams for track and field, tennis and curling.
Mario then pursued his postsecondary studies at Nipissing University in North Bay in computer science. Mario would have liked to establish himself in Ottawa after finishing his schooling and to work in video game development.
Mario had many different jobs during his short time with us. He worked as an assistant for the École Publique Héritage summer camps, at Northern Tikes, and as a ski instructor for Laurentian Ski Hill.
Unfortunately, in July 2020, Mario was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called, spindle cell sarcoma. Despite this difficult challenge, Mario displayed a strong spirit and graciousness from beginning to end, often putting the comfort and well-being of others before his own.
Mario's family would like to thank the many members of all the medical teams that devoted themselves to his treatment and the betterment of his health during his hardship, such as the Drs. Joel Carter, Lacey Pitre, Abha Gupta, Ryan Carlson, Stephanie Brill and Dr. Inez Jinnah, the employees of the North Bay Regional Health Centre, Health Sciences North, the Northeast Cancer Centre, the NOFCC, LHIN and VON organizations, Nipissing Orthopaedic Laboratory Inc., Robinson's, Shoppers Drug Mart, McGuinty Funeral Home and the Davedi Club.
One of Mario's hobbies (playing music) with Café Chantant. Mario is on lead guitar dressed in black. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHf2sMlvEc4