March 17th, 1933 - June 22nd, 2024
Charles “Bud” Patrick Fauteux, age 91, of Fergus, Ontario passed away on Saturday June 22, 2024, in Fergus.
Bud is survived by his wife Marcella “Marcie” Fauteux of Fergus, daughter Lynda Davies and son-in-law David Davies of Vancouver, sons Jean-Paul Fauteux (JP) of Guelph, and Brad Fauteux and daughter in-law Alison Mann of Toronto, grandchildren Hayden Davies of Vancouver, and Eloise and Lillian Fauteux of Toronto, and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his sisters Rita Gagne, Lillian Trowhill, Patricia “Patsy” Martin, and Dolores “Curly” Trevenna, his brother Rudy Fauteux, and his son Randy Fauteux.
Bud was born in Cobalt, Ontario to Richard Fauteux and Leonie Cote on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1933, which is how he got his middle name. His family moved to Timmins and little Buddie, as he was called by his three older sisters, attended a French Catholic elementary school. For high school, Bud attended Scollard Hall, a Jesuit boarding school in North Bay, enjoying a wonderful academic and sports curriculum. He participated and excelled in many sports and clubs, graduating in 1952. After high school he worked as a surveyor’s assistant for Ontario Hydro for a time and like many men in Timmins worked for Holliger in the gold mines.
In 1959 at the age of 26, married with two young children, he made the remarkable decision to go to university to become a high school teacher. He was accepted at the University of Western Ontario in London. After tryouts for the football team, he decided that at age 26 he was better suited to be the Mustangs manager. He held many jobs during those 4 years at school to make ends meet and graduated with an Honours BA with a Major in Physical Education and was the recipient of the Governor General’s Gold Medal for the top marks in his graduating class.
Bud loved school. He had a distinguished career teaching, coaching, and playing sports beginning in Kirkland Lake, then Iroquois Falls and then Pembroke where he met Marcie who was also a teacher at Champlain High School. They were married there in 1969. Though Bud always loved coaching, refereeing and playing sports, he really was interested in school administration, which meant returning to university. He completed a master’s degree in education, from the University of Ottawa, and the secondary school principals’ course at Queens University. With all these academic credentials in hand, he was a Vice Principal at the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute, and then a Principal at Centre Wellington District High School, and Erin District High School, retiring in 1993 at age 60.
As a principal, he was known to be a leader by both words and example, compassionate and fair as both a boss and a colleague. He had a smile that could light up a room in a heartbeat, and a commanding voice that could quiet that room just as fast. His impact on students would number in the thousands and in retirement, he was always delighted when a former student or colleague would recognize him, even if he sometimes didn’t remember them.
Bud had a lifelong love of sports and music. He loved jazz music, in particular the Duke Ellington and Count Basie big bands and he had a beautiful tenor singing voice, even leading the Glee club in high school. He was a terrific and versatile athlete and a fierce competitor, lettering in football, basketball, baseball and hockey in high school and he continued to play hockey as well as referee basketball and football into his retirement. He coached all of these sports as well as track and wrestling and his appreciation for athletics and competition was an important part of him all the days of his life.
Bud loved the outdoors, and both hunted and fished during his life, always looking forward to fly-in fishing trips with his friends. He was a strong believer in the protection of the environment and conservation, recycling and composting long before it was fashionable, recycling margarine containers as Tupperware and milk bags. He even built a solar pool heater from scratch that kept the pool warm for decades. He was an avid gardener and enjoyed having flower and vegetable gardens in all of his homes. He was also a tireless renovator and handyman around the home. Marcie would just say the word and all of a sudden windows became doors, walls moved, and doors became windows. He just loved hard work, laying paving stones for a driveway, designing a garage, building a pool deck—the list would go on and on. Bud also had an artistic side. He loved going to auction sales to find antiques, became adept at working with stained glass and always had an appreciation for art.
Bud was also a lifelong believer in giving back and spent countless hours fundraising for the Rotary Club where he was club President in 1985. He was an ardent fundraiser and a great salesman for charity. He also volunteered for St. Joseph’s church which he and Marcie attended. He had strong beliefs rooted in the idea of service to others and he was known to be kind, generous, thoughtful and possessed an irrepressible work ethic.
Funeral service will be held at St. Joseph’s Church at 760 St. David’s St North in Fergus at 11 am on Friday July 5, 2024. A reception will be held at the Parish Hall directly afterwards at noon. Burial will follow at St. Mary Immaculate and St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery at 0343 Wellington Road 7 just outside of Elora at 2:30 pm. Graham A Giddy Funeral Home in Fergus will be handling the funeral arrangements with a visitation occurring there on Thursday July 4, 2024 from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm located at 280 St. David St South in Fergus.
Memorial donations can be made to the Upper Grand Learning Foundation (https://www.uppergrandlearningfoundation.com/give-today/) or to Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.ca) a charity that Bud found meaningful and he himself supported.
www.grahamgiddyfh.com
