Montrealers pay their respects to Paul Houde
Posted April 5, 2024 11:55 am.
Last Updated April 5, 2024 2:53 pm.
Quebecers are invited to pay their respects to radio host Paul Houde at the Montreal Planetarium on Friday.
The family of the popular Quebec broadcaster is holding a public wake in his honour, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
His funeral will be held privately on Saturday.
Paul Houde’s brother, Pierre Houde said this is the first time that the Planetarium will be hosting this type of event.
“We had the good idea of presenting the sky as it was on each day of Paul’s life,” said Pierre Houde in French to TVA Nouvelles. “Today is a really touching moment.”
The hommage had Houde’s photo and urn adorned by white roses – all under a star-filled sky.
Throughout his career, Houde was beloved as a radio host, notably at CKAC and 98.5 FM.
He hosted more than 600 radio shows, most of them morning shows and game shows such as “Lingo” and “Le Cercle.”
Houde was also an actor who’s most famously known to Quebecers for his role as a goalkeeper named ‘Fern’ in the Les Boys movies.
His sister, Johanne also spoke with TVA and said she can still hear her brothers voice in her head because he’s still alive in her heart.
“I’m very proud of my brother and I think he was proud of me,” she said in French. “I wrote him a text the day before his operation and I ended it by saying ‘I love you’. I don’t know if he read it because we never spoke again after that.”
He died on March 2 at the age of 69 from complications following brain surgery.
-With files from La Presse Canadienne
