This award celebrates the remarkable contribution to the profession of nursing by Lise (Fournier) Brooks and is intended to support a single parent student in the field of nursing. 

Lise Fournier was the 12th child born to a pioneering family that homesteaded near Ferland in the dryland farming region of southern Saskatchewan. She happily rode her horse, Champ, to a one room prairie schoolhouse where she developed a keen appreciation for learning and nature, buoyed by a reserve of curiosity and enthusiasm for discovery. Lise had a natural affinity for the nursing profession, and this ultimately translated into graduation from the Regina Grey Nuns Hospital (RGNH) in 1961.

That same fall, she attended the University of Windsor on a nursing education scholarship and while there, she met her future husband, Charles (Skip) Brooks. He followed her back to Regina where she took a position teaching obstetrics at RGNH.

They married in 1965 and set out to discover unfamiliar parts of Canada and the world. Following a year of Lise teaching at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, they settled in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where Lise taught at the local hospital. But they wanted to explore further!

In 1968, they were the first family to ever volunteer with the Canadian University Services Overseas (CUSO). They were assigned to a small northern village in Kenya where Lise practiced and taught in a frontier hospital. She gave birth to their third child in Kenya in 1970, before returning to Canada.

The homecoming involved a lot of change, moving east, then west, and back east again, during which time two more wonderful children were born. As a family of seven, they finally settled in the beautiful Gatineau Hills, north of Ottawa, in 1976.

Lise continued nursing, teaching at Algonquin College and working in palliative care at Elizabeth Bruyère Hospital. However, she always found time to volunteer with all sorts of initiatives focused on the marginalized and homeless. She was driven by her commitment to the vulnerable in society, and for her, there was no room for indifference. Even on a visit to Australia, this remarkable lady took two months off to volunteer at an outreach opioid addiction clinic.

Lise was a consummate gardener, the “Hosta Queen”, but she never lost an opportunity to explore the beauty of life around her. She cycled across Canada, the United States and Australia, winter hiked the 850 kilometers of the Camino De Santiago and hosteled around more than 20 countries of the world, often alone or with family members.

Classy and confident, she touched the lives of friends and strangers alike, with a tenderness and generosity that left a treasury of wonder filled memories. She never apologized for loving and never left it unspoken. Working for the Ottawa Nursing Registry, she made innumerable home visits and nursed in every sort of health care setting throughout the national capital region. During the emergence of the Aids crisis, she was relentless in providing homecare and comfort to so many who were often abandoned or ostracized by their own families.  Lise finished her career doing conscious sedation for a local dentist, and her passion for volunteer work continued until she passed away in 2024.

For over 40 years, Lise had practiced the art and science of palliative care nursing everywhere and anywhere. She personified the foundational meaning of nursing with uncommon courage, compassion, and kindness! Her advice was always: “Never underestimate the importance of nursing nor the strength you get from your community of friends and families.” Lise leaves a rich legacy, including a deeply loving family, husband, five children and three grandchildren. That was Lise (Fournier) Brooks. Pour toujours!