A mon cher neveu Claude,
Tu nous as quitté, comme tu as vécu, sans faire de bruit, humble et digne.
Tu resteras toujours dans nos coeurs et nos pensées.
Ta chère Tata Nicole et Famille Pisani.

I have always loved to hear Luce talk about Claude, his work, hobbies, careful attention to detail, playfulness, humour, his kindness, unending patience, what she found frustrating about him... Everyone who was lucky to know him understood his special gifts. However, to hear Luce speak about him was to hear love in its purest form. And that is eternal.
We send our deepest condolences to Luce and the rest of his family.

Luce, I am so sorry to learn of the passing of your dear husband Claude. Although I have not known Claude for a long time he has touched me as a very wonderful person with a truly humble spirit and a sparkle in his eyes. I will treasure his memory. My sincere condolences to you, Lucy, and your family.

We were very saddened to read of Claude's passing. Our home is filled with paintings, prints, and photographs that he framed for us. Several months ago he completed his last (and most important) project for us - framing our son's wedding pictures.

Claude was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and we will miss him and his warm smile.

Claude
Tu étais notre "cousin d'amerique".
celui qui a eu le courage de realiser nos reves d ailleurs.
ton depart nous laisse sans voix.
on avait apprecié votre visite lors de votre voyage en europe
on se souviendra de ta gentilesse. de ta drolerie.

luce ,dans ces momments difficile recois toute notre affection;

With a heavy heart Gayle and I received this news. When Claude and Luce moved next door to us we were amazed at the energy this vibrant couple displayed! Claude, forever tinkering, would always greet us with a smile from his garage. We wiill miss your smile Mon Ami---God bless

Our Dear Luce, Veronique & Family, We extend our deepest sympathies at this difficult time. We keep in our hearts with great fondness a great, gifted, kind man, Claude. Know you are dearly missed and remembered as we treasure our memories and times we were lucky enough to spend with you and your beautiful family. May the comfort and love of your family and friends support you , Luce, Veronique & Family. Much Love, Gino & Gail

Dear Luce, Veronique, and family,

What a terrible blow. We have all lost a most magical—and yes, too young—soul.

I am reminded of a quote by George Orwell that says "At fifty, every man has the face he deserves." I used to think of this as a somewhat derogatory statement but in thinking of Claude, a light suddenly forms around it... as was the tendency in his company. Indeed, if it's truly a measure of a man then at fifty—sixty even—Claude has imparted a certain brilliance to the claim. His smiling eyes, vibrant outlook , and encouraging grin have left an indelible impression and he will most certainly be missed. I am thankful for his generosity of spirit, his kindness and jokes when they were most appreciated. He was a lovely man and person and his memory will always remain dear to me.

My thoughts are with you all. I wish I could be there to honor and celebrate his life … and his 60+ year old face, such a lovely one it will always be to me.

With love, Una

Luce and Veronique,

My deepest sympathies to you all. Luce you were a very dear friend to my mom and I think of you and Veronique often and I am thinking of you both in this difficult time.My prayers are with you.

My deepest sympathies go to Luce, Veronique and families. Claude was such a wonderful person, and made friends wherever he went.

In his early days at Canadian Foremost, Claude traveled to some of the most remote and difficult places in the world, with the intent of starting up and training the locals in the proper use of the off-road vehicles. Often times, the trip that was planned for a mere few weeks would turn into such a long period that Luce and Veronique would go to join him. But not every place, as conditions were often just too harsh.

In 1972, Claude made the longest Foremost service trip ever; to Iran for seven months. Despite all of the problems with the operations of the equipment, Claude made solid friends of all of the clients.

Another trip saw him in the Western Deserts of India, living in a tent amongst the scorpions. The majority of his time in India seemed to be in dealing with the bureaucracy, and making repairs.

A subsequent trip found him living in a small run-down boat camp on a remote river in Borneo. He and his “helpers” were given no food, but managed to purchase one bag of rice locally. He stated that he wasn’t too impressed with Indonesia. “It’s hot, swampy and smelly with the worst climate in the world (This was before he went to Russia). But if you are really fond of cold rice and dried fish, this is the place.”

Later trips included Siberia, where living in small un-insulated portable shacks was somewhat unpleasant due to the -50o C temperature outside. He commented that it was hard to be motivated to get up regularly to fill the wood burning stove, but if he didn’t, his clothes would be frozen solid in the morning. Here there was also a shortage of anything to eat. The only item in good supply was vodka.

Needless to say, working at Foremost was challenging, but Claude never really complained. His positive attitude and great friendship seemed to carry everyone through.

He will be missed.

We were so sorry to hear of Claudes
passing. we know he will be missed.We send our deepest sympathy to Luce and family.Our thoughts are with you at this sad time.

How can our family say thank you to Claude? For over 20 years we had the privilege of friendship with Claude. He was a mentor, friend, employer and inspiration to our son Alex when he worked for Claude. His patience, wisdom and kindness had a profound impact on Alex and by extension on our whole family. He made the world better for all who knew him and there is a special place up above for such a gentle soul. Peace and loving kind wishes to his family from our family.

We were so sad to hear of Claude's passing, Luce and Veronique. As we both worked with him at Foremost it seems like just yesterday that we would pass in the hall, or meet at the Christmas party. He was always so pleasant to work with and beside for all of those years. He will be missed by more people than we can all possibly imagine - a nicer man we will never meet again. Our heartfelt condolences to you and your family.

I was so sorry to hear of Claude's passing. He was careing. kind and was always enthusiastic about his beautiful family, the art world and life. He is truly a masterpiece who will endure in our hearts forever. Thank you Claude for so much.
Edward Michell

Claude was a truly wonderful person and we will miss his very special soul. He had a wonderful sense of humor, playful yet sophisticated smile, warming heart and was one of the classiest people I have ever known. My only regret is not getting to know him better. Our hearts and prayers go out to Luce and all the La Pietra family, we are so sorry for your loss.

It was always so much fun to get together with Claude and Luce. Laughter was never something you needed to look for when in their company. Claude will be greatly missed and my thoughts/prayers go out to the La Pietra family, particularly Luce, during this time. Claude was taken too soon from our physical lives, but will live on in our hearts and minds for ages.

We have lost someone very special...
I will always treasure moments spent with my dear friends Luce & Claude. And, I will never forget his smiles, humor and kindness.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Luce, Veronique and family.
Marija & Ivan Bosnjak

Salut mon tonton d'Amérique
A chaque fois qu'on s'est croisé, depuis mon enfance, tu m'as fait rêver...Tant d'histoires racontées sur des pays magiques et puis ta gentillesse, cette ressemblance avec mon pépé adoré, ton calme,ton humour, bien sûr...
Mais cette fois-ci, je n'apprécie pas du tout la plaisanterie!
Mes enfants sont tristes. Ils avaient trouvé en toi un grand-père .
On est tous très triste et il y a ce terrible sentiment d'injustice...
J'espère que tu es bien, dans les nuages...
Tu es pour toujours dans nos coeurs

I worked for Claude when he owned his framing and art gallery, I can't think of a boss whom I ever liked more as a person than Claude, nor whom was a better boss than Claude. He had a great way of making you laugh at just about everything, he certainly got me to laugh at just about everything and I think I'll remember that most about him-he was a great friend of my family, but most importantly he was a really good friend of mine. Claude always told you what you needed to hear even if you didn't want to hear it and brutal truth is far better than what most people can ever offer in a relationship, and Claude gave it so well. But above everything else Claude's most wonderful quality was the fact that he liked just about everyone he met, regardless of their person, and in turn could make just about everyone like him and to give that sort of joy made Claude capable of really making the world a better place. My condolences to all the La Pietra family and for all those who ever had the pleasure of meeting Claude.

Mon oncle était un homme bon comme il y en a peu.
Il supportait les autres sans jamais se pleindre.
Il ne prononçait aucune parole blessante.

Comme nous avons l'habitude de le dire : Nous sommes à Dieu et nous retournons à Dieu.
L'Ange de la Mort a saisit une âme de plus. Le cycle de la vie est ainsi.
Cette Âme manquera beaucoup aux vivants qu'elle a laissé derrière elle.

Un grand merci à Luce pour s'être dévouée toute sa vie auprès d'un homme éprouvé.
Sans doute sans ta rigueur il nous aurait quitté bien plus tôt.
Nous nous préparions au pire venant de son diabète et c'est son coeur qui a failli.
Nul ne peut avancer son heure et nul ne peut la retarder.

Souvant la mort nous apparait cruelle et injuste mais c'est en fait la vie qui est un miracle.
Puissions-nous savoir en profiter le plus possible tout en suivant l'exemple de notre prédescesseur que nous

suivrons tous un jour ou l'autre dans la tombe.
La valeur d'une vie se mesure à la satisfaction de ses proches.
Et quand je fouille dans ma mémoire, je n'y trouve aucun reproche.

Claude was my employer for a little more than a year and he was wonderful to work with, as was as Luce. I enjoyed his humour and all his stories of his travels with work and in the French military. I send my thoughts, prayers and sympathies to Luce, Veronique et al.

For sure, I will always remember Claude's sense of humour! he would always find something funny out anything. No matter how bad things got, he would bring out the bright side of any situation. He always tell me wonderful stories about France during lunch. I will always remember his kindness and positivity. I was very lucky to have worked for him and Luce for 5 years at Bob's Create-a-Frame. He made me feel part of his family, and through him, I learned so much about hard work and craftmanship. Something I will carry with me because of him. I don't really have all the words to express how much I am going to miss him because I still cannot believe he is no longer with us. But I am very fortunate to have met someone like him.

It was a sudden shock to hear of Claude's passing. Our sincere sympathy to Luce and Veronique and family. May all the good memories ease the pain you feel. Our house is filled with memories of him of all the frame work he did. A kind spirit and always a warm smile and lots of wit.
Claude we will miss you and may God bless you.
Angelo and Nel Serafini

We were shocked to say the least at the word that Claude had passed away. Our sincere condolences and thoughts to Luce and family. Claude was a pleasure to have working with the staff of Cimarron Sales Ltd. His smiles and wit will be missed around the shop and customers will certainly miss his visits.

Bill, Tamra, Brenna, Ken and Gary

Dear Claude, Thank you so much for taking us into your family, those many years ago in that far-away place. You were one of those who knew his business, and who went about his business, just right! You did your share of the world's work. May God bless you, and God bless the family. Love, Mary and Don Gowing

Mon très cher parrain,
Tu es parti sans que je puisse te voir une nouvelle fois... J'ai toujours dit à papa et maman qu'il m'avait donné le meilleur des parrains! Un parrain attentif, généreux, sympathique et toujours prêt à rigoler!
On était loin l'un de l'autre mais dans mon coeur tu occupes une place immense... Tu me manques déjà parrain. Je me souviendrais toujours de mes vacances à Calgary avec toi et ta jolie famille, j'aurais tant aimé y revenir avec mathieu pour vous voir tous... Luce, véro je pense très fort à vous.
Au revoir Parrain, mon parrain que j'aime tant...
Laure

Très cher Claude,

Tu me laisses tant de souvenirs de jeunesse et tant d'autres souvenirs. Tous ces moments, je ne les oublierai jamais, ni ton sourire, ni ta joie de vivre, ni ta sincérité.

Mes pensées sont également dirigées vers les tiens, ceux et celles que tu as tant aimés et choyés.

Tu demeureras à jamais mon ami, et ce départ précipité ne saurait altérer ma pensée envers toi.

Du haut de ton nouveau regard, veille sur les membres de ta famille et protège-les, car d'aucun ne t'oubliera.

Jean-Pierre et Louisa

Our memories of our friend Claude are of a warm,kind,gerenous,genuine & humble human being. We will miss his heart. Our love and deepest sympathy to Luce,special partner to Claude in business & life, to Vernique,Chris & girls, Family meant everything to him.

We met Claude through his framing business in Strathcona. Claude would just shake his head and start laughing when he saw us coming into the store as he new it would just be off the wall type project. Luce became very involved in our projects too. HENCE a new friendship blossomed and how blessed we were to know such wonderful people. We will have such precious memories of such a kind and gentle soul as Claude. We will never forget.

Il y a bien longtemps, tu avais quitte notre cote d'azur.
Nous nous etions trop peu de fois revus...
Et, la tu decides de partir sans un au revoir.
Tu nous manques deja.
Ciao,ciao, Cugino

A toi, Claude, notre ami de trente ans qui nous a quitté trop vite alors que tu avais encore tant de projets à réaliser avec Luce. Nous vous attendions avec impatience plus près de nous.
Très affectés par ta disparition,nous garderons à jamais
gravés en nos coeurs et notre mémoire ta gentillesse, ton humour, ta bonne humeur et ton optimisme.
Adieu l'ami, tu nous manques beaucoup.

We feel very blessed to have had Claude in our lives. He was a very dear and special man and more like family than just a friend. Claude was a gentle, kind and loving soul and will be missed very much. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to his loving wife, and our dear friend, Luce, and also to his daughter Veronique, her husband Chris and daughters Nicole and Isabella.

Il habitait loin de nous et mais nous pouvions quand même lui parler. Alors là, il exagère et c'est bien triste car nous ne le reverrons pas du tout et il nous manque.

Claude was a very special person in our lives. From his many talents and jovial character, especially with petanque and belote (he and Patrick always won!!) to his love of fine wood and his family. He was like a big brother to Patrick and we will miss him. Claude restera toujours present dans notre vie.