Jeremy jere Elijah Bourgoin-Horne

Jeremy Bourgoin-Horne, the beloved son of Norah Bourgoin-Horne and Luc Horne passed away suddenly March 7, 2015 at the age of 24. Jeremy graduated from Evergreen Elementary School and Westwood High School.

Jeremy was loved by all who knew him. Jeremy was a young brilliant man with a radiant smile, a strong will and the ability to put whoever was in his presence at ease. Jeremy was passionate about animals and was not discriminate in his love for them, throughout his life; he cared for dogs, rodents and reptiles alike. He was a dedicated sports fan and follower of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Netherlands National Soccer Team.

Jeremy is survived by his parents Norah Bourgoin-Horne and Luc Horne; his brothers Leon, Andre and Matthew Bourgoin-Horne. He leaves behind his paternal grandparents, Francisca and Lucien Sr. Horne. He is also survived by his sister in-law Marie-Andrée Cloutier and close friend, girlfriend of Matthew Horne, Kate Caswell. He is pre-deceased by his maternal grandparents, Edith and Lewis Bourgoin. Jeremy also leaves behind many members of the extended family and a large circle of personal friends and friends of the family.

A public reception will be held in honour of Jeremy on Saturday, March 21, 2015 from 2-5 PM at the Collins Clarke MacGillivray White Funeral Home at 222 Autoroute 20, Pointe Claire, Quebec. A celebration of Jeremy’s life will be held at a later date in the summer of 2015 at the family home. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donating to “Dans la Rue” through cash donations at the reception or through the following hyperlink.

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/in-memory-of-jeremy-bourgoin-horne/ .

BIOGRAPHY by: Leon Bourgoin Horne

Jeremy E. Bourgoin-Horne, the youngest of four sons, was born July 10, 1990 to his parents Norah and Luc. He was welcomed into the world with a full head of brown hair by his loving parents and older brothers Matthew, Andre and Leon, 1, 5 and 6 years old respectively at the time.

Being the youngest, Jeremy had to be a quick learner in order to keep up with his older brothers, and he was. By the time he was four, he was already beating his brothers at the video games they played (something that would come back to help him later in life). He also kept up with the other three as they got messy on adventures in the sand pit and in the surrounding country environment they grew up in. Jeremy from day one was a tough kid.

School started for Jeremy in the fall of 1995 at Evergreen Elementary School, he made good friends and went along. By grade three, he had some tough times with regards to the education system and school wasn’t Jeremy’s favourite thing, like many kids his age for that matter. It was by this age that Jeremy had signed up with his brothers for winter swim team, Jeremy was a great swimmer and did this for a couple years until he met his toughest challenge, a challenge many people will never have to face.

Jeremy was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, an electrical conduction disorder of the heart that resulted in an extremely-rapid heartbeat at unpredictable times. Jeremy was forced to stop swimming and all physical activity due to the risk. Shortly thereafter, Jeremy became one of the youngest patients to receive corrective surgery to repair his heart by Dr. Love from Boston, Massachusetts. Jeremy went into surgery like a trooper and within a week of coming out of the successful surgery was back to being himself.

Jeremy continued snowboarding with his brothers right through his teens and even signed up to play tackle football for a couple of seasons with the Saint Lazare Stallions’ mosquito and peewee programs. He played almost every position on offense and defense and was known for his toughness and solid tackling. He played one season with his older brother Matthew during that time.

Jeremy always showed a lot of love for animals. During late elementary school and throughout high school, he was always with the beloved family dog Sandy and he also cared for Berber Skinks (a type of lizard) and Degus (a type of rodent). His love for animals was indiscriminate, he loved them all, something that would run true throughout his life.

Jeremy fell in love for the first time in late high school and had the opportunity to share his heart again in life.

In 2007, Jeremy’s gaming skills came in handy. He participated in the Canadian version of the Electronic Arts 2007 Madden Challenge for a chance to compete in the international tournament finals in the Turks and Caicos. He participated with his oldest brother Leon and would routinely beat in all games, much to Leon’s frustration! Jeremy came first place over all at the regional tournament in Laval, winning a flat screen television, football apparel and two tickets to Toronto to compete in the national tournament. Being the kind hearted soul he is, Jeremy took along Leon to accompany him. Jeremy was one of the top participants in the tournament out of a field of hundreds. Jeremy fought his way to the final game of the national tournament, where he just missed out on qualifying for the international tournament where he would have competed for $100,000. He lost to a young player from Ottawa. Nonetheless, it was an impressive accomplishment for Jeremy.

2007 was also the year Jeremy graduated from Westwood Senior High School. Despite graduating and passing all his classes, Jeremy was not a big fan of school and before graduating started working. Jeremy worked in the food industry, landscaping and as a farm hand. In every job that Jeremy worked, his bosses would tell his Mother and Father that he was one of their best workers, was always available and always willing to do what was needed to get the job done.

After a few years out of high school, Jeremy began to struggle, he did not believe the good words his bosses or the people who surrounded him had to say about him. Jeremy had difficulty focusing and trouble seeing and planning for his future. It was here that Jeremy’s internal struggles with himself and the harmful addictions that took his life began to take control of him.

Despite the deep pain Jeremy was in, he fought until the end and always loved his family and his animals. He had by this time also acquired a lovely husky-greyhound mix named Bella and a Columbian Tegu (another type of lizard). Despite Bella being his dog, he also accepted with open arms the new addition to the family Sky, a mix of Rottweiler, Husky and only God knows what else.

Jeremy knew his struggles and was very self-aware, something that in large part had to do with his strong sense of intuition and ability to understand the ins and outs of mental health. Unfortunately for Jeremy, healing his pain was a difficult and insurmountable task, that became harder and harder as time went on.

After three months in re-habilitation, and receiving great praise from the counsellor for his hard work and ability to support others at the centre, Jeremy left and just one month later succumbed to the addictions that had taken a hold of his life in the early hours of Saturday March 7, 2015.

Despite his own struggles, Jeremy was always there to help people going through theirs. He was a good listener and a good problem solver when it came to helping people solving their own. Jeremy was a brilliant young man with a big heart and will be missed by all those he leaves behind.

EULOGY by Paul Dhaliwal (Jeremy's close friend)

For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Paul. I’ve been a close friend of Jeremy’s since our first year of Junior High School, and so for about 12 years. For me, personally, that makes my friendship with Jere one of the longest lasting of my life. But really, that’s just so far. Because although I know that he is now gone, the memories that I have of him will continue to lengthen our friendship until the day that I, too, am gone.

For many here, myself included, I think that we are all asking ourselves ‘Why?’ ‘Why and how?’ For those of us that knew Jere well, he was always known to us as one of the kindest, most intelligent, often hilarious and caring person we’d known. And even for those who had just met Jere recently, even as he carried his heavy, heavy burden, it was always his gentle personality that shone through.

As we gather here, faced with Jere’s passing, we are all certainly arrested by a deep and common confusion. I think that we stand here now, questioning what little we know about this world, if anything, when we are made to witness how something like this, could happen to someone like Jere.

I remember talking on the phone with Jere. During our years in High School, this was something that we often did for hours at a time. I remember, then, feeling a tinge of embarrassment over this aspect of our friendship, as I had been under the impression that this was the sort of activity typically reserved for teenage girls. Not young, growing men. I was not yet then my sharpest self.

I remember talking on the phone with Jere about a year ago. It was January 1st and we had just been out the night prior celebrating the New Year. Wanting to discuss the events of that night, and other things, I called him. That phone call lasted over an hour and I remember feeling quite nostalgic over the earlier years of our friendship. Almost as soon as we ended the call, Jere opened his computer and posted the song “Brother” by Alice in Chains, one of his favorite bands, onto my Facebook wall. Jere often went to great lengths to demonstrate his affection for his friends, and so although this act did not surprise me, I remember feeling deeply touched, lucky and grateful.

I’ve never been very good at making friends myself. There are, in fact, many people in this room today who I would never have met had it not been for Jere. As he always made sure that as he continued to develop new friendships that I never felt left out or left behind. This was also the kind of thing that Jere did. He took care of his friends, and he took care of me.

While Jere’s seemingly boundless compassion and generosity may appear extraordinary to most of the people in this room, its origins are very easy to trace. Some days after Jere’s passing, I made plans with his father, Luc, to come down to the house and see the family. After deciding on a time and date, the first thing Luc asked me was this: Are you okay for transportation? Even in times as dark as these, thinking of others is just the Horne way. And Norah, I’ll never forget how deeply touched I was when last year you listed me as your nephew on Facebook. I don’t know that I ever properly thanked the both of you for letting me stay in your home, in some cases for weeks at a time, when I had found difficulties of my own during my teenage years. And so I’d like to do that now, and so thank you.

To Leon, Andre, and Matt, I know for a fact that Jeremy cared incredibly deeply for all three of you, and I know how much he looked up to you. The bond that you all shared as brothers was one that I’ve always admired.

Jeremy, I don’t know that I’ll ever fully understand the pain that you went through, but I am so grateful for the friendship that you gave me. You bettered all those around you, and you bettered me.

Dream well, brother.