Marie-José Champagne’s husband started a golf tournament in her memory.
The cause: Fondation Hôpital Charles-LeMoyne
The reason: To buy equipment for the neurology department
Marie-José Champagne was going through her regular workout in a Montreal-area gym when she suffered a massive stroke. She died two days later on May 31, 2012. She was just 41 years old and had no history of heart disease or bad health.
Her death devastated her husband, Pierre Alexandre Brodeur, and their two daughters. It also deeply affected her friends and co-workers at Bombardier, where Ms. Champagne had been head of purchasing.
Mr. Brodeur and a group of friends decided to start a golf tournament in her memory to raise money for the Fondation Hôpital Charles-LeMoyne, a hospital near where the family lives in the Montreal suburb of St. Bruno. Called the Omnium Marie-José Champagne, the event is held at the St-Hyacinthe Golf Club and it is now in its third year. The tournament has raised $180,000 in total so far and the money goes to purchase equipment in the hospital's neurology unit.
Mr. Brodeur, who met his wife while they were in high school, said he has been overwhelmed by the support for the event.
"She had a big influence on a lot of people," said Mr. Brodeur, who runs MGB Group, a supplier of electrical equipment. "I'll keep doing [the tournament] as long as I have the energy."
pwaldie@globeandmail.com