Owner of famous pastry shop dies at age 109

At one time, no Vancouver hostess would dream of throwing a stylish party without serving pastries from Agnes Notte’s Bon Ton Pastry and Confectionary.

Now Agnes, the matriarch of the Notte family has died, a few weeks shy of her 110^th birthday.

Born in France and taught by nuns in Victoria, Agnes faithfully attended Mass at at St. Anthony’s and Christ the Redeemer in North Vancouver until she could go no longer. And then she loyally watched on television.

Members of the Notte family, who continue to operate what some consider “the bakery in Vancouver,” say Agnes fulfilled her promise of outliving her mother, who died at age 104.

“She was a woman of great integrity, strength, and character,” said eulogist and daughter Monique Veralas.

“Although Mother never finished her high school education – as she was constantly on the move with her parents – she was a highly intelligent and self-taught woman and ran the business side of Bon Ton brilliantly.”

Born in Evron, France, Dec. 7, 1906, Agnes moved to Canada at age 3 when her architect father was commissioned to build a church and school in rural Carstairs, Alta., north of Calgary.

“They had lived there for about four years in the cold weather when the doctor said she wouldn’t survive another winter,” Veralas said. The family moved to Victoria, where Agnes attended St. Ann’s Academy, owned and operated by Catholic nuns.

In 1918, a Spanish flu pandemic swept across parts of the globe, including Victoria, where it killed hundreds. Agnes and her parents caught the bug, but survived, then decided to move back to France.

Agnes lived in Europe until 1929, when she realized she had been out of the country for almost 10 years and would lose her Canadian citizenship. She returned, a move that changed the course of her life.

“She met dad in 1930 on a blind date,” Veralas said. Oreste Notte was a baker and the founder of Bon Ton, an artisan pastry and confectionary in Victoria.

“In three weeks they were engaged” and tied the knot July 7, 1930.

The pair had a son in Victoria and three more children after moving to Vancouver. Bon Ton came with them and Agnes managed the store when it opened on Granville Street.

In those days, “I don’t think any self-respecting woman would have thrown an elegant party without serving some Bon Tons,” said family friend Eleanor Urquhart.

“If you had something special, you had Bon Tons. Their Diplomat Cake is still very well known.”

The bakery moved to West Broadway in 2000 and strove to keep its French décor, Urquhart said. “In my book, it is still the bakery in Vancouver.”

Oreste worked as a baker, while Agnes “had everything at her fingertips as far as the business went.” During the war, the pair even opened a soup kitchen at the back of the shop for neighbours who needed extra help. The Notte family still runs Bon Ton.

Agnes and Oreste enjoyed travelling and entertaining guests at their home together until he died in 1978. Agnes’ mother, Bonne Maman as she was affectionately known, lived with them until her death at age 104.

Agnes “continued to travel until she was 95,” Veralas said. In recent years, Agnes moved into Hollyburn House in West Vancouver. Two years ago she fell and broke her pelvis, causing her extreme ongoing pain.

Notte had regularly attended Mass in West Vancouver, at St. Anthony’s or Christ the Redeemer parishes. When she became too weak to travel there, she “never missed watching it on television.”

Veralas said the last few years of her mother’s life encompassed what it meant to “die with dignity.” One evening she went to visit her mother and noticed the door closed and a deep voice speaking inside the room.

“I was a little frightened! What’s a man doing in my mother’s room?”

Veralas hesitated and then opened the door. “The voice stopped and my mother had her hands in prayer: ‘Oh dear Lord, I’m so sorry for asking you to take away my pain. I must suffer my pain as Your Son suffered His.’”

Veralas left, convinced that the voice she’d heard was God’s. “My mother, until her last breath, would not complain of her pain,” something that shocked her nurses, Veralas told The B.C. Catholic. “She was with God from that moment on.”

Agnes died Nov. 16, a few weeks shy of her 110th birthday. The funeral Mass was celebrated at Christ the Redeemer Parish Nov. 25. She is survived by four children, 12 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren.