Annette Mary Bajraktari (Valentino)

With dignity and courage, and her loving family by her side, Annette passed away at the Ottawa General Hospital in her 64th year. Loving wife for 47 years to Dod Bajraktari, and devoted mother to Lule, Patricia (Geoffrey Guy), and Leza. Cherished grandmother to Elizabeth, Amanda, Rachel, Jacob, and Patrick. Annette was born in the Bronx NY, and was loved dearly by her parents Antonio & Antoinette Valentino, and siblings Anthony, Patricia, Vincent, and the late Patrick. She leaves behind in mourning her special nephew Anthony Valentino and many nieces, nephews and aunts. In 1967 she met her husband to be, married and moved to Ottawa, and made their home in Greely for 47 years. Annette was an extremely loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She took pride in all that she did within her home. Her unconditional love was never failing, and she was always just a phone call away. The grandchildren played a huge part in her life, and for that she will be greatly missed. Annette decided to pursue her own personal vocations, and studied at Ottawa University. With great determination she earned her Baccalaureate in Arts Conc Linguistics with Honours on May 30th 1983. Three years later on May 28th 1986 she received her Baccalaureate in Education Cum Laude. Annette was extremely dedicated to her studies, and held a high regard to the importance of an education. ESL was Annette’s passion and she devoted many of her teaching years within the classroom. Her outstanding contribution to the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board earned her a Director of Education award in May of 2006. In 2009 she received an award for dedicated service to the International Languages. Annette spoke fluently in Albanian, Italian and Spanish. Her love for language transpired thoughout her life. On February 9, 2012 she received a certificate in recognition of 25 years of service within the Catholic School Board. Annette worked at the Family Welcome Centre in Ottawa, and made sure that the many families she attended to were treated with respect and care. Throughout the years Annette held a high regard for her colleagues, and truly considered them to be her second family. The amount of support our mother received by her friends, was simply amazing as I know for a fact on many a quiet afternoon our mother would take out the many cards and letters. She was deeply humbled by this experience, and even though she knew her time with us was limited, it definitely wouldn’t go unappreciated. A special thank-you to Judy, Nicki, and Tu for the time you took out of your day to be with our mother. Sometimes it just takes a warm smile, to brighten one’s day, for that we are grateful. To Father Cosmas for the many visits and prayers shared with our mother, we thank-you. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Zanke, Dr. Kendall, RN Elizabeth, and to all the incredible nurses on 6 West at the Ottawa General Hospital.