Rev. Jeanie Lee (Vautour) Oulton

Surrounded by the love and prayers of family and friends close to her bedside, and many around the world, the soul of Jeanie Lee (Vautour) Oulton passed into the joy of her Lord on January 31st, 2019 from the palliative care wing of the Lennox and Addington General Hospital in Greater Napanee, Ontario.

Born in Campbellton, New Brunswick on October 17th, 1957, Jeanie was the daughter of Dennis and Dawn (Irvine) Vautour and the eldest of five siblings. She is survived by her brothers Clayton (Charmaine) and Robert, her sister Isabel (Karl Larabee) and was predeceased by her brother Murray (LeAnne) in 2014.

Jeanie’s husband Michael had the joy and privilege of being married to her for over thirty eight years and together they raised three wonderful children, Thomas, Sarah and Charles. Jeanie was tenacious in life and also in love for her children, family and friends.

Jeanie’s early life was spent living in Dalhousie, New Brunswick, where she developed a love of athletics, particularly volleyball, tennis and badminton which she played on teams from Dalhousie Regional High School. Despite orthopaedic challenges that followed her throughout life, the pain of any moment was eclipsed by a will and indomitable spirit honed on the floors of the gym and court.

Jeanie graduated from Mount Allison University (1980) and the Atlantic School of Theology (1984) and was an ordained Minister of the United Church of Canada. She served Pastoral Charges in Sheffield, Oromocto and Boiestown in New Brunswick, Amherst, Nova Scotia, and Alberton, Wellington and Victoria West in Prince Edward Island. Following the families’ move to Ontario in 1997, she served Charges in Westbrook and North Trenton.

Jeanie also served as a chaplain at the Bay of Quinte Conference’s Camp Quin Mo Lac in Tweed which she shared with Michael, while their children attended as campers, councillors and staff over ten years.

Jeanie's faith was rooted in her love of Jesus Christ coupled with a passion for social justice in support of those whom society has neglected and abandoned. This passion was most visibly manifested in her call to serve as a chaplain in the Correctional Service of Canada which began as a university student participating in services at Dorchester Penitentiary. 

Jeanie completed advanced clinical pastoral education in 1991 at the Ontario Correctional Institute in Brampton and went on to serve as Metro Toronto Chaplain based at the Keele Center and later at the Millhaven and Joyceville Institutions. Her short story “The Sound of Being in Prison” was long-listed in CBC’s “Canada Writes” competition a few years ago.

Friends, family and colleagues will gather at Grace United Church, Napanee on Tuesday, February 5th at 11am where Jeanie’s life and the great gift of eternal life she enjoys in Jesus Christ will be celebrated and proclaimed. Following the service, a reception will be held in the hall at Grace United.

A graveside service and reception for family and friends will be planned for later in the Spring in Port Elgin, New Brunswick.

The family would like to express their deepest thanks and appreciation for the prayers, love and support of so many over the past four years. Jeanie lived those years daily defying cancer, not allowing it to dampen her light. The wonderful people of the Cancer Center of Eastern Ontario in Kingston and the palliative wing of the Lennox and Addington General Hospital in Napanee were her caring allies, helping her hold onto the power of light and life and we thank you.

In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that donations be sent to Camp Quin Mo Lac, the Cancer Center of Eastern Ontario, the Palliative Wing of the Lennox and Addington Hospital or a charity of the donor’s choice committed to the cause of social justice.
 

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