Pauline Helene (nee Cloutier) Stermac

There will be sorrow, there will be celebration, but most of all, there will be love.

Pauline had an effervescent and truly sincere personality.  Filled with an abundant sense of humour and culture, vibrant, engaged and engaging, she was a remarkable individual who lived a long and richly rewarding life.  One of those rare beings for whom life was a continuous and exciting voyage of discovery and learning.  More rare is that she excelled in sharing her multiple talents with all her many eclectic friends whose life-long loyalties were mutual sources of joy.

Born in Windsor, Ontario.  Pauline became a well-known and well-worn couturière in Montreal, still sewing and creating new designs into her 90s. Her elegant stature and impeccable style were maintained to the end. In Toronto, for years she taught French literature to ballet students at the National Ballet School, and developed special friendships through her private French lessons.

Tennis and golf were her passions almost as significant in her life as practicing on her grand Steinway. No one dared argue with her about the greatest pianist that ever lived -Vladimir Horowitz. She always had the denier mot when it came to music in all its forms. When she wasn’t at the live Canadian Opera performances, she would book the same seat for all the transmissions of the Metropolitan Opera.  Ballet?  Definitely Eugene Onegin. At her last concert this past year, at Koerner Hall, she sat through Ivo Pogorelich with a sense of dismay. She was a stickler about unorthodox interpretation…. Chopin was not to be tampered with.  Up until very recently, she was still practicing Chopin’s Posthumous Nocturne in C Minor and Bach’s Concerto No. 5in F Minor.  Renee Fleming’s Casta Diva from Bellini’s Norma, Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Strauss’s Four Last Songs solaced her in her last hours.

Pauline spoke several languages and continued to practice Italian every day, well into her 90s. That she was disciplined is a grand understatement. She approached her interests with committed passion, whether it be swimming (which she never really liked), piano, tennis, golf, bridge, sewing.  Many of her friends knew exactly what she’d be doing at almost any given time of day or night. This discipline enhanced her curiosity: she read voraciously in several languages, and particularly admired the works of  Milan Kundera, Philip Roth, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Julian Barnes.

She loved animals and was a devoted fan of National Geographic programs.  In her youth, she kept a pet monkey, followed by many dogs and her beloved cat, Elvis, who was her calm and steady companion to her last breath.

Pauline’s death of a brain tumour, in the late hours of July 10th, has forced a void so wide that all who loved her will feel her absence until our respective days are done.  Especially so for her doting daughter, Nina Yankovich, with her supportive husband, Tom Franchetto.   As her only child, Nina was her rock, her pride and joy, and her devoted caregiver. As her « favourite son-in-law » (and her best golf pupil), Tom shared with Pauline comfortable hours watching golf tournaments on the weekends.

There are few people in one’s life that can muster a sense of awe, but Pauline surely filled that role for all of us.  She is irreplaceable.

Pauline was pre-deceased by her husbands Milan Yankovich, Alex Stermac and Donald Newlands.  Missing her will be family, supportive neighbours and a multitude of friends who, to quote Emily Dickinson, were her “estate”.  Special thanks to the loyal private and VHA caregivers and team at the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care.  Celebration of life to be held at a later date.

Please consider a donation to The Royal Conservatory of Music to name a seat in Koerner Hall in honour of Pauline.  Donations can be made online https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/memoriam.aspx?TributeType=Memoriam&EventID=128428&LangPref=en-CA&Referrer=https://www.rcmusic.com/ ORCHESTRA ROW S - SEAT 5 - Pauline Stermac or by calling 416-408-2824 x 457.

“The Friend”
“In a circle of friends, the one who dies first is the friend you will never forget.
This is the death that unhinges you from the trappings of life,
and makes you - suddenly - absurdly grateful for each new breath –
beginning with this one.
This is the death that could break you apart in every way possible;
that persuades you - in memory of that friend –
to turn away from whatever refuses to speak to your heart,
from whatever threatens to numb your soul,
from whatever it is that revels in death.
Yet this, too, is the friend you need by your side.
Listen.  Together they urge you:  Live your life”
- Alice Kavounas