{"id":4972,"date":"2013-05-09T13:34:33","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T18:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/?page_id=4972"},"modified":"2024-02-25T11:17:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T16:17:17","slug":"gaston-lheureux","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/portraits\/gaston-lheureux\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaston l&#8217;Heureux"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Gaston L&#8217;Heureux, a man of heart<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" title=\"Gaston-heureux-MEMO-Qc\" src=\"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Gaston-heureux-MEMO-Qc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"301\" height=\"200\" \/>It   is with great sadness that MEMO-Qc has learned of  the death of Gaston  L&#8217;Heureux on Sunday, January 9, 2011. He was a member of our   organization as a collaborator and spokesperson who was on board until  very  recently. A well-known  public figure, there is no doubt that he  has greatly helped our  organization and the cause of people with  disabilities, particularly  spinal cord injuries,  in the eyes of the  public.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>A media career<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Born  in 1943 in Quebec, Gaston L&#8217;Heureux was a journalist from an early age.  His first job was at The Soleil newspaper at the age of 19.  Subsequently, he began a successful career as a television host, working  on several shows including Coqueluches (Radio-Canada, 1974-1978), Avis  de Recherche (Radio-Canada, 1982-1985) and Vins et fromages (TVA,  1993-1996). His outgoing personality, upbeat tone and good living had  made him a favorite of the Quebec public.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A man committed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During  the ice storm of 1998, Gaston initiated the Tour of comfort, which  raised $ 2.5 million for local food banks that  assisted disaster  victims. As chairman of the Fondation des artistes, a spokesman for  Diabetes Quebec and the Mira Foundation, Gaston L&#8217;Heureux was always  fighting for causes close to his heart.<\/p>\n<p>He was  also a longtime supporter of our organization. Even before he became  SCI, he sponsored various fundraising activities in the 90s. After  his  car accident that left him a tetraplegic in 2007, he joined the  board  of directors of the organization, but had  recently quit his post for  health reasons. He  had also been a spokesman for several of MEMO-Qc&#8217;s   activities, including our annual fundraising show and Rick Hansen&#8217;s  Wheels in Motion event. He also collaborated with several other  partners, such as the Lucie-Bruneau Readaptation Centre and K\u00e9roul.<\/p>\n<p>Over   the past three years, Mr. L&#8217;Heureux has helped raise awareness about   the causes of disabled people and particularly the condition of people  with spinal cord injuries. Optimistically, he saw his life in a  wheelchair with a peaceful philosophy. &#8220;My life isn&#8217;t over, I took a  detour. Life goes on&#8221;, he told the show <em>Libre comme l&#8217;air<\/em> on  channel 1 of Radio-Canada, in June 2009. Everyone who knew him will  remember his kindness, his sensitivity and his constant good humor. &#8220;He  was a great man and a valuable partner for the organization. Despite  a  busy schedule and the fact that he had to get used to his new   condition, Gaston did not hesitate to espouse our cause and even to join   the board to help make a difference . He has always been available to  us when possible. I will remember him as a man committed and very  pleasant company. He will be missed. &#8220;, said Alexandre Poce, director of  corporate finance for MEMO-Qc.<br \/>\n&#8220;Quebec has lost a person of great human sensibility, our organization  has lost a  committed member, and we have all lost a good friend,&#8221; added  the CEO of MEMO-Qc, Walter Zelaya.<\/p>\n<p>MEMO-Qc  wishes to offer its sincere condolences to the relatives of Gaston  L&#8217;Heureux. May his memory inspire us to advance our cause more than  ever. Farewell Gaston!<\/p>\n<p>Sidebar:<br \/>\n<strong>For more information<\/strong><br \/>\nSalducci  Peter wrote a book about the career of Gaston L&#8217;Heureux in the late 90s  (<em>Gaston L&#8217;Heureux malgr\u00e9 lui, 30 ans de t\u00e9l\u00e9vision au Qu\u00e9bec<\/em>,   Editions Stanke, 1999, p. 200). &#8220;He&#8217;s a wonderful, very open person,  friendly, and  interested in everything,&#8221; Mr. Salducci abounds.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gaston L&#8217;Heureux, a man of heart It is with great sadness that MEMO-Qc has learned of the death of Gaston<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5809,"featured_media":0,"parent":58,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4972"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16453,"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4972\/revisions\/16453"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moelleepiniere.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}