Corey George Demontigny

Mr. Corey George Demontigny, 53, of Brandon, Manitoba, passed away suddenly on September 12th, 2023 while on vacation in Quebec.  Corey was born on September 10th, 1970 in Brandon to his mother Shirley Ann Ferguson (DeMontigny) and to his estranged father Lloyd Ferguson.  Corey was born with some mental and physical challenges which led to some hard times for him and his family.  Corey’s early years were spent in Russell, Manitoba where he       attended Major Pratt School. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t always a kind place for him and not everyone understood who Corey was.  His mom Shirley and his Granny Katie DeMontigny took care of him the best way they knew how.  There wasn’t a lot of support or resources for someone like Corey,  especially in the small town of Russell so in 1986, he moved to Brandon where he graduated from Neelin High School.  During the next few years, Corey worked at the Westman Recycling program as part of his training at Career Connections in Brandon, and then was moved to the Manitoba Development Center (MDC) in Portage la Prairie.  Corey’s time at MDC was not positive but fortunately, one of the social service’s staff at MDC helped to set Corey up in the ‘In the Company of Friends’ program and he moved into the community of Portage La Prairie.  At this time, Corey only had staff with him for 8 hours a day and it just wasn’t enough support for him.  The staff hours were increased to 24 hours a day and this worked much better for him.  A support network was formed for Corey but some members gradually faded away.  It was then that Debby Combs-Dandy joined the network and eventually helped Corey to relocate to Brandon to the Colonial Estates apartments.  Corey spent most of his time at COR, then later at Career Connections and also at Avis Place. 

Corey was a very social person and he loved to go for coffee, to “chit chat” with his family and friends on the phone, and to meet new people.  His faith in the Catholic Church helped him through many dark times and Corey attended church as often as he could.  He loved to pray for people and to tell them that he was praying for them.  Corey was generous with his affection and he always wanted the people in his life to know how much he loved them.  It brought him great joy to buy gifts and small tokens for his loved ones.  Corey liked to play sports and he participated in the Special Olympics for golf and bocce ball and he also enjoyed swimming and bowling. Corey loved animals, almost as much as he loved people.  His support staff’s pets became a huge part of his life and he grieved along with them when they were called to pet heaven.  Although Corey faced much adversity throughout his life, his last few years were more stable and he was happy. 

Corey was predeceased by his beloved mom, Shirley Ferguson; Granny Katie (Katherine) and Grandpa George DeMontigny; Uncle Don DeMontigny; Uncle Laurence DeMontigny; his Auntie Rita Gagnon; and  Auntie Margaret Allen.  Corey’s Uncle Jim Allen passed away only 10 days after him. 

Corey is lovingly remembered by his Uncle Jim and Auntie Diana de Montigny of  Russell; his cousins Tanya, Mike, Joshua and Ryder Thompson of Russell; his cousins Shannon, Warren, Wynn, Payton, and Nicolas Leflar of Morris; his friends Debby Dandy and Andrea Oswald; his support workers Tarah Hodgson, Angie Hartley, Kristen Liske, Brittaney Vandepoele, and  Emmanuel Menyereye; and members of his support network, Edith Clayton, Jared Flam and Sherry Lesack. Corey is also survived by his half brother Justin Robichaud.