Gisele Cecile Delaney

Gisele Cecile Delaney, 87, of Raleigh, passed away peacefully on Friday morning, August 22, 2025, at Calyx of Wakefield. She was born on November 12, 1937, in Saint-Venant-de-Paquette, Canada, to the late Pierre and Dora Crète Lamoureux.

Gisele, “Memere”, was a kind and charming woman. Hospitality was her hallmark. Always curious and a good listener, she made many friends during her lifetime. After raising her children in western Massachusetts, she focused her people skills on volunteering to manage the Women’s Auxiliary gift shop at Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer, Massachusetts. With an eye for fashion and accessorizing, the shop became a welcoming spot for a perfect gift.  She cherished sharing a good meal with family and friends. As a skilled and creative cook, she prepared many delicious and memorable meals up and down the East Coast.  Her seafood chowder, lasagna, berry pies and jams, and chocolate cake (!) were favorites of her grandchildren each summer vacation at the beach house on Prince Edward Island or during Christmas visits on Amelia Island, Florida. She was equally skilled at remembering all the best restaurants from Maritime Canada to Northern Florida!  Her creative talents extended to the canvas as well. She captured her love of beautiful landscapes as watercolor and oil paintings, which now hang on the walls of family and friends. She loved dancing, singing and laughing with her family. We were always on her mind and in her heart.

In retirement, Gisele and her husband, John, enjoyed 25 years of sun and sea on Amelia Island, Florida during the winter months and their summers at their beloved cottage on Prince Edward Island, Canada. They were longtime parishioners of Saint Michael’s Catholic Church in Fernandina Beach, FL, and made many wonderful friends there. In 2022, they moved closer to their daughter in North Carolina, where they became parishioners of Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Raleigh. New friendships were quickly formed at Waltonwood Lake Boone Trail and most recently at Calyx Senior Living in Wakefield.

Gisele is survived by her devoted and loving husband of 65 years, John Delaney;  daughter, Karen Gormley of Raleigh;  grandchildren, Kateri Gormley-Sackett and husband Kyle of Rochester, NY, James Patrick Gormley and wife Bethany of Greensboro, NC, and Claire Gormley and husband Jenke Scheen of the Netherlands; great-grandchildren, Gavin and Eliza Sackett; former son-in-law, James Gormley of New York; many friends and extended family. She was preceded in death by her son, Peter Delaney.

A funeral service will be held at 10 o'clock, Saturday morning, August 30, 2025 at Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, St. Mary of the Angels Chapel, 11401 Leesville Road, Raleigh, NC 27613.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Room at the Inn, PO Box 13936, Greensboro, NC 27415.

Arrangements by Clancy Strickland Wheeler Funeral Home, 1051 Durham Road, Wake Forest, NC 27587. (919-556-7400)

www.cswfuneralhome.com