Obituary of Maurice Rabaey

The passing of Maurice Cyril Rabaey occurred at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 with his wife by his side, after a brief but valiant battle with a rare cancer. After 65 years of near perfect health, he received his devastating diagnosis in November of last year and fought it as hard as he could. Born in Tillsonburg, Ontario on December 1, 1947 he was the son of the late Amand and Laura (Casier) Rabaey. In his younger years Maurice grew up in Delhi, Ontario, where he entered the long haul tractor trailer industry in his early twenties and was employed by Walker Transport for 26 years. He traveled extensively throughout the United States and visited every single state except three. He loved the great outdoors, so he loved life on the road. Following the tragic death of his first wife, he came to NB in 1997 to live with his brother and drove for Brookville Trucking Company. He found happiness again when he met his second wife in 1998 and worked for other trucking companies and also cleaned for many industrial cleaning companies. At the time of his death, he was a devoted and exemplary cab driver for Standard Taxi for ten years. He loved his job because of the large volume of people he met and he loved the interaction with them. He went above and beyond for all his customers and came to be one of the most popular drivers. He especially loved working with the elderly. He also worked for Loyal Taxi and Trius Taxi for shorter periods of time. Maurice’s life was filled with many struggles and great personal losses. After meeting his second wife which gave him new happiness, along came a bouncing baby grandson, named Cody Scott in July 2008, which brought him even more joy. Cody was the new bright light in Maurice’s life and the two of them spent many wonderful days and weekends together and came to share an incredible bond. This little boy will miss his Grampy immensely, but he now knows his Grampy is free of pain and will be watching down from heaven every day. Besides spending time with Cody, Maurice loved horses, having worked with them on his brother’s Quarter Horse Farm. He also loved motorcycles, Nascar racing, reading and relaxing on his deck and going to the shore, especially Shediac, where he loved to sit at the Point Du-Chéne Wharf and be by the ocean. He was a nature lover and the fall was his favourite time of the year. Maurice was a homebody and the ultimate Mr. Fix-It. He loved to clean and do chores around the house and could fix anything. He was a very neat and organized person. He took pride in keeping his automobile and home spotless and he did everything very meticulously and never left a job undone. He was a man of great strength shown when he still worked twelve hour shifts in the taxi after his cancer diagnosis and in great pain. Three weeks before his death, he was still doing little chores, carrying groceries and climbing stairs. His parents taught him to work hard, be tough and complain as little as possible, and he followed their orders impeccably. Besides his parents, he is survived by his second wife and best friend, Heather (MacKenzie), one estranged son, Scott, unknown whereabouts; a daughter, Suzanna of Ardrossan, Alberta; sister, Dorothy Versnick of Aylmer, Ontario; three granddaughters, Ashley, Kelsey and Chloe of Ardrossan, Alberta; two grandsons, Lee of Grand Prairie, Alberta and Cody of Fredericton, NB. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews; one very special daughter in law, Cody’s mother, Candice Stewart of Fredericton, NB; mother in law, Dorothy MacKenzie of Moncton, NB; step son, Jeremy of Fredericton, NB and two little step grandsons, Hunter and Kingston. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his first wife, Carol Ann in 1997; his sister, Margaret Pieters in 1998 and his brother, Cam just 18 days ago. There will be no services by Maurice’s request. The arrangements have been entrusted to York Funeral Home, 302 Brookside Drive, Fredericton, NB. For those who wish, remembrances may be made to the Fredericton Food Bank. Personal condolences may be offered through www.yorkfh.com