Joshua James Gabriel Laboucan

It is with the deepest sadness we have ever felt, that we are announcing the passing of our beloved son Josh through an accidental death on May 27th, 2025. Josh, fondly named as Joshie by many of us, came into our lives to brighten our days by giving us laughter and joy. He was smart, talented and such an empath that he could feel people’s pain deeply and cared for others who were hurt.

Josh was Metis/Cree and he loved his cultural ways such as pow-wows and teachings of his ancestors. He had strong medicine of wisdom and such a trickster! Josh created humor in any situation and of us who knew him well will greatly miss that about him. His wit could be heard and felt at all family gatherings.

Josh was one of the smartest people we knew, being gifted in artistry, electronics, and a self-taught musician through guitar and piano. He had two diplomas by the time he was 22 which included 3D Animation from Dev Studios in Edmonton and a diploma in Film Studies at Vancouver Film School. His was a camera man in his film career. When Josh could no longer work, he volunteered with people with disabilities at a few social service agencies on Vancouver Island.

Josh leaves his beloved mother Jeannine, his ‘pops’ Neil, his sisters Robin and Tammy. He also leaves his closest nephew Carter and many other aunties, cousins, relatives and friends who came into his life and gave him great joy. Everyone who knew Josh could tell you he loved his family, his little buddy Dex and the Edmonton Oilers. Josh also enjoyed reading, and author Chuck Palinuik, was one of his favorites. We found it only fitting to leave some of Chuck’s philosophies behind that we believe Josh would approve of:

‘We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will” (C. Palinuik). The forever something for us from Josh is his deep love, laughter and hugs. In Josh’s honour we will host a celebration of life in October in Alberta and we ask people to send donations to Providence Farm or MexPup on Vancouver Island instead of flowers. The family thanks you for this.