Edmond Joly de Lotbinière (1922-2014)

He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1952 after serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII. He was Second Secretary and Consul at the Canadian Embassy in the Hague (1954-58); Assistant Secretary to the Governor-General (1959-61) during the terms of Vincent Massey and Georges Vanier; First Secretary, Office of the High Commissioner for Canada (1961-65); Extraordinary Gentleman Usher to Queen Elizabeth II (1961-65); Deputy Head of the Consular Division, Department of External Affairs, Ottawa (1967-69); and, Assistant Secretary to the Governor General of Canada (1976-84) during the terms of Jules Leger and Edward Schreyer. In 1982, he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order by Queen Elizabeth II.

 

He married Francine Benoit and had four children, Alain, Michel, Pauline and Christine. They all shared a passion for the mountains, nature, music and the arts, and he was described in his obituary as, "a man of distinction, generosity, and kindness." He was the only son and sole inheritor of one of the oldest seigneuries in Canada, granted to Rene-Louis Chartier de Lotbinière in 1672. The seigneury remained in the family until 1967, when it was acquired by the Quebec government and subsequently sold to a foundation created to preserve and develop the historic property - the Domaine Joly de Lotbinière.