Thérèse Tanguay-Dion, (20 March 1927 – 17 January 2020), popularly known as ''Maman Dion'' ("Mommy Dion" in French), was a Canadian television personality and the mother of singer

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the " Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had a significant impact on popular musi ...

. She was born on the

Gaspé Peninsula The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (, ; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on it ...

, in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, as was her husband, Adhémar-Charles Dion. Her parents were Antoinette (née Sergerie) and Laureat Achille Tanguay. Already well known in Quebec as a stage mother involved in her daughter's career, she later launched her own line of food products, Pâtés de Maman Dion, and became host of a

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a Television studio, studio set, or at the host's p ...

for TVA in 1999. She was also a sponsor of the Fondation Maman Dion which was founded in 2006, an educational foundation which provides school supplies, clothing and eyewear to underprivileged children.

Children

Thérèse and Adhémar had 14 children: * Denise Dion (born 16 August 1946) * Clément Dion (born 2 November 1947) * Claudette Dion (born 10 December 1948) * Liette Dion (born 8 February 1950) * Michel Dion (born 18 August 1952) * Louise Dion (born 22 September 1953) * Jacques Dion (born 10 March 1955) * Daniel Dion (29 November 1956 – 16 January 2016) * Ghislaine Dion (born 28 July 1958) * Linda Dion (born 23 June 1959) * Manon Dion (born 7 October 1960) * Paul Dion (born 3 April 1962) * Pauline Dion (born 3 April 1962) *

(born 30 March 1968)

Death

After several months of experiencing health issues, Thérèse Tanguay-Dion died at her home in the Saint-Rose neighborhood of

Laval, Quebec Laval is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in Can ...

on 17 January 2020, at the age of 92.

References

1927 births 2020 deaths Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian television chefs Canadian women philanthropists Celine Dion People from Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Philanthropists from Quebec Canadian women chefs {{Canada-tv-bio-stub