Ursula Wyatt Trudeau

Born in Montreal, Quebec, on Jan. 17, 1932, the daughter of Col. Henry Johnston and Beatrice (Lyman) Johnston, Ursula showed an early talent in art and went on to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Montreal. Upon graduation, she pursued a career in freelance commercial art, including fashion illustration, hand-painted billboards, costume and set design for both theater and television, window displays and textile design. Following two years of working in Paris, she met her future husband, Francis B. Trudeau, MD, and they were married in 1960. Ursula moved to Saranac Lake and continued what was to be a long career in painting, exhibiting frequently in Montreal, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and the Virgin Islands. She also used her remarkable talents on behalf of many local organizations, including the Adirondack Antiques Show, Pendragon Theatre, and the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, which honored her as grand marshal in 2014. She was a member of the Adirondack Artists Guild and on the Board of the Trudeau Institute.

Among her many varied pursuits, Ursula loved gourmet cooking and especially skiing. She was a member of the Whiteface Mountain Ski Patrol and worked for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Deeply fond of hats, she was a ubiquitous, colorful presence in Saranac Lake, and her elegance and ebullience always made an indelible impression on everyone she met.

Ursula is survived by her niece, Caroline; two nephews Malcom Johnston and Bruce Johnston; sister-in-law Anne Johnston; and stepchildren Michelle Trudeau, Jeanie Fenn and Garry Trudeau.

Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Church of St. Luke, 136 Main St. in Saranac Lake. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to the Trudeau Institute, 154 Algonquin Ave., Saranac Lake NY 12983.