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Sunday, 8 February 2009 at 06:38

The Ottawa Valley has lost an icon with the passing of Fred Meilleur.

The legendary former owner of the Chapeau Hotel passed away at his Chichester home Monday morning, a mere five minutes away from the site of his famous hotel. He was 85.

Mr. Meilleur's daughter Anne Meilleur, who has been caring for him over the past few years, said her father returned home Dec. 1 after a lengthy stay in a Toronto hospital, and seemed to be doing fine.

"He had been doing really well," Ms. Meilleur said from her home, after spending the day on the phone, fielding scores of calls from well wishers and those who came to pay their respects to the family.

On Monday morning, Mr. Meilleur took a turn for the worse.

"I knew something wasn't right," Ms. Meilleur said. She decided to take him to the hospital and was getting him ready when he died.

"He asked me to help him put on his socks," she said, something he hadn't asked her to do before.

"I just turned away for a moment while getting him ready, and within five minutes he was gone."

When asked to comment on her father, Ms. Meilleur said above all else, he was a people person.

"My father was a man who loved his family and lived for the community," she said. "He was there for us, he was there for the community and he was there for people."

Once he sold the business, the one thing Fred Meilleur missed is all the people he got to know over the years, Ms. Meilleur said. During his hospital stay, he was thrilled to have visitors and loved and appreciated all of the cards and well wishes people sent him.

"It was the memories of the people that he met over the years, that's what kept him going," she said.

Fred Meilleur and the Chapeau Hotel were inseparable, with him spending 62 years in the business, where his hospitality, his steak suppers and near photographic memory made him a legend in the upper Pontiac.

The sudden loss of his son Rollie in 2002, with whom Mr. Meilleur ran the Chapeau Hotel, led him to decide to sell the business in 2003 to Odette Godin.

In the summer of 2008, Mr. Meilleur fell ill visiting Toronto while attending several family-related anniversaries and birthdays. He spent the rest of that year in the Toronto General Hospital, marking his 85th birthday there with family and friends in September.

During his hospital stay, the legendary hotel, which was closely associated with him, burned to the ground. It is still not known whether it will be rebuilt.

The loss of both the hotel and its past owner have left a hole in the heart and soul of the village of Chapeau, one which will leave it reeling for ages to come.

Brian Adam, mayor of Allumette Island and a lifelong friend of the family, said while they all knew this was inevitable, no one is really prepared for this event.

"We're all quite saddened today, as Chapeau is suffering from a great loss," he said.

"Fred was a surrogate father to most people of my generation. He was an institution most small communities often didn't see."

"He was not only an icon to us here in the Pontiac, but to thousands of people across the country" who have all heard of Fred Meilleur and the Chapeau Hotel.

Mr. Adam said while he understands funeral plans are ongoing, he is expecting many people will be coming to the village to attend and pay their respects. He said the municipality will have to do its part to ensure all of these visitors can be accommodated on the day.

"In a variety of ways, he belonged to us all."

Andre Vaillancourt, a member of Allumette Island municipal council, said he saw Mr. Meilleur in the village during the Christmas holidays.

The councillor said the death of Mr. Meilleur is affecting everyone in the area.

"This is certainly a big loss for the community," he said. "Fred is the best-known person I know."

"In fact, you could go anywhere across Canada and find people who would remember Fred, or have heard of the Chapeau Hotel. They may not know where it was located, but they knew Fred."

Ms. Meilleur said her father truly loved the people and the places which defined the upper Pontiac and the Ottawa River, and all he could think of while in hospital was to get back here.

"That's the way he wanted it," she said. "He wanted to come back to the valley and die at home, and both his wishes came true."

(Compliments Of The Daily OBSERVER)