August 13, 2026

With much sadness, we announce the passing of Earle Gilbert Joseph Potvin, on June 29, 2026 at the age of 90. Earle was the much loved husband of Bonnie Jean Fetterly Potvin and dedicated and loving father to William, Derek, James, and Jason.Born in Timmins, Ontario to a Hollinger Gold Mine foreman, Reginald, and his wife Ellen, Earle experienced an interesting and lively upbringing. The Timmins of his youth was vibrant and full of interesting members of the mining community. Earle and his brother William had a knack for making friends and could count amongst them boys from different parts of the globe whose families had arrived in Timmins to seek jobs. Earle thrived in this milieu because he was always keen to know about the world and the characters within it. Full of mischief, he and his friends were often pulling pranks and daring one another to perform certain tasks. It’s hard not to imagine that Earle was at the heart of all of these shenanigans. A football player during the school year at Timmins’ High, he worked at lifeguarding, installing dial systems for Bell Canada,and labouring at Hollinger Mines during the summer.

Leaving Timmins as a teen, he boarded the train alone and made the long trip to Ottawa, Ontario to attend St Pat’s High School to complete two years of his high school career. He often regaled his family with stories of being taught by the nuns. A restless young man, it appeared he was often the object of their reprimands. The nuns did not deter him however. He returned to Timmins to graduate from high school there, but would later make his way back to the college campus at St Pat’s to study undergrad science. Excelling in that program led him to set aside earlier aspirations to become a priest and pursue further education for a medical degree at theUniversity of Ottawa. It was that degree that fated him to meet a young Civic Hospital nurse who had been charged to care for one of his friends who was suffering from polio. Meeting her left Earle instantly smitten with her broad smile and quick wit. It helped that they both had small town roots and were trying to find their place in the big city. A trip to Timmins to introduce his new girlfriend to his bawdy crew of buddies would lead his best friend to say, “Earle, you’re gonna marry that girl”. And so he did. On December 29, 1962, Earle and Bonnie were married in Prescott, Ontario. What followed this union is a wide and vast story of love, family, community, leadership, dedication and fun.

Looking for a place to practice family medicine, Earle entertained the idea of replacing a doctor in a small community in the Ottawa Valley. Bonnie and Earle liked the familiarity of the small town feel, but Bonnie said she would ‘give it one year’. With their two oldest sons in tow, they moved to Shawville, Quebec in 1965 and swiftly became part of the social fiber of the community. It was abundantly evident to the young couples in town that Bonnie and Earle were entertaining, gracious, and gregarious. They were a much sought couple for social gatherings of any kind. With Bonnie’s quick wit and Earle’s sly prankster side, they had a very busy social calendar. Despite their busy lives, their family grew again by adding the two more sons and even still, Earle found time to spend 4 years commuting back and forth to Ottawa to study General Surgery. This particular medical specialty would turn into a lifelong commitment to the people of the Pontiac, whereby Earle would provide for the medical and surgical needs of countless people for 55+ years ~ decidedly more than the one year promised by Bonnie.

Remarkably, for many decades of his career, Earle was the only surgeon on staff at the Pontiac Community Hospital and was therefore on call 24/7 year round. He was undaunted by these demands, often saying he felt most alive and comfortable over the surgical table. There are countless stories around the region of individuals and authorities driving and calling around the region trying to find Dr Potvin to perform yet another life saving surgery. One infamous story involved a snowmobile as the form of transportation used to find the good doctor. Some of the best stories can be told by the colleagues and staff with whom Earle worked. These colleagues became close friends of Earle’s over the years and many of them honoured him by recently attending the unveiling of the ‘Dr Earle Potvin Wing’ in the surgical department at the PontiacCommunity Hospital (Centre integré de santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais) where he was able to listen to them recount their memories of working with him. Having worked until he was 85 years old and staying true to his character throughout, staff from the hospital had many stories to tell about the mischievous, witty, and kind surgeon who became their friend.

An ordinary week for Earle would mean tending to patients in his family practice, performing countless planned and emergency surgeries both day and night, sometimes making a few housecalls, attending meetings for an expanding hospital, and mentoring fellow doctors and medical students. He was an affiliated teacher for McGill University Medicine and a member of the Society of Rural Physicians. To add to the excitement, Earle was a very active community member. He was a long standing and dedicated member of the Shawville Lions’ Club where, along with a fellow Lion, he was responsible for the inaugural Canada Day festivities in Shawville. As a Lion, he also led and organized the reconstruction of Mill Dam Park. Earle also lent his leadership to the Shawville Apartments for seniors, serving as Chairman and President. When there was spare time, he enjoyed a fishing trip to Lac Dumont or Bells Lake with his chums and sons. With equal passion, Earle loved nothing more than a round of golf where miscounted strokes and general good bantering were part of the fun with his regular golf crew. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, he found time to host the crowd of children and parents who would bring their beloved pets to the annual Pet Show at the Shawville Fair. Earle was a crowd pleaser at this event. Behind the mic, he loved to tease the children as they showed off their animals, always garnering laughter from the crowd.

Later life would bring an added pleasure to Earle and Bonnie as they welcomed 4 daughter in laws, Anna, Shelley, Sherri and Julie, and 10 grandchildren into the fold. Katy (Andrew), Keith (Jennifer), Nicholas, Luke (Cynthia), David (Naomi), Ted (Victoria), Jennie, Amanda, Mackenzie and Benjamin would join the Potvin clan in quick succession, reviving Gpa’s mischievous nature. The grandchildren grew to know that their adventures at Gma and Gpa’s farm would always include fireworks, giant pumpkins, animals, flowers, and lots of swims with Gpa, who loved the water. They also knew never to trust Gpa during a card game and never to turn the channel from the golf game. It gave Earle much pleasure to welcome a step-great granddaughter, Olive, into the family in recent years. There is much hope in the family that his newest great grandchildren, Julian, Sabina, and Jaxon (coming in October) will inherit some of their great grandfather’s spunk and energy. Earle will also be dearly missed by Sheron Langford Costas, her husband, Stormy, and their family. Having lost her father early in life, Sheron became a surrogate daughter to Earle and they each treasured this relationship deeply.

A faithful man, Earle will leave a lasting legacy at his church, St Edward’s Catholic Church in Bristol, Quebec. He and Bonnie were lifelong committed members of the congregation, making lasting friends amongst the congregants and the clergy alike.

The last year of Earle’s life was spent at Orchard View Gardens in Almonte. His companions, Tammy, John, and Roger kept his days full of adventure and fun. Due to their commitment to him and his interests, Earle was able to get to regular Mass, movies at the theatre, art classes, the casino, restaurants, the doughnut shop (for a doughnut or two), and to Bonnie’s graveside. If Earle expressed a wish, Tammy would rally support and get him to where he wanted to go, including the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Kingston whereby Earle got to attend a Mass at the Cathedral of St Mary of Immaculate Conception. The family will be forever indebted to them for making Earle’s past year remarkable and memorable.

The family would also like to thank Norah, Gary, and Anne for their unwavering support of Earle’s life on the farm over these last few years. Without them, he would not have been able to have managed his beloved farm life.