Eugène Rhéaume

Eugène "Gene" Rhéaume (December 3, 1932 – November 1, 2013) was a politician, insurance agent, and social worker from Northwest Territories, Canada.

Eugène Rhéaume
Member of Parliament for Northwest Territories
In office 1963–1965
Preceded by	Isabel Hardie
Succeeded by	Robert Orange
Personal details
Born	(1932-12-03)December 3, 1932 High Prairie, Alberta
Died	November 1, 2013(2013-11-01) (aged 80) Penticton, British Columbia
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Profession	Administrator, insurance agent, social worker

Life

Born in High Prairie, Alberta, he was the eighth of nine children. Their father was French-Canadian and their mother was of Scottish, Ojibwa, and Métis heritage. Rhéaume studied English at the University of Saskatchewan, obtaining a BA in 1953, and later received a social work degree after working in that field for a time. He married Helen Gessler in 1954. They had six children between 1955 and 1963. They were married 37 years, then, following a divorce, Rhéaume's partner for 15 years until his death was Margaret Jones of Okanagan Falls, British Columbia.^[1]

Rhéaume first ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1962 Canadian federal election against Isabel Hardie; he lost the hotly contested election by only 300 votes. He faced Hardie again just a year later in the 1963 Canadian federal election, this time defeating her.

Rhéaume served in the House of Commons for one term, before getting defeated himself in the 1965 Canadian federal election by Robert Orange. He was the PC candidate in the 1974 Canadian federal election running in the Saskatoon—Humboldt electoral district in Saskatchewan; he was defeated by incumbent Otto Lang.

Rhéaume died on November 1, 2013,^[2] from complications related to cancer surgery.^[1]

He was the grandfather of singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume.^[3]

Electoral history

v t e 1963 Canadian federal election: Northwest Territories
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Eugène Rhéaume	4,814	56.82	+14.47
	Liberal	Isabel Hardie	3,659	43.18	−3.06
Total valid votes			8,473	100.0
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+8.76

v t e 1962 Canadian federal election: Northwest Territories
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Isabel Hardie	3,842	46.24
	Progressive Conservative	Eugène Rhéaume	3,519	42.35
	Independent	A. Pat Carey	948	11.41
Total valid votes			8,309	100.0
This riding was created from Mackenzie River, with Liberal Merv Hardie as the incumbent.