Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Rozsika Tsetso was born in Fort Simpson on September 11, 1983, to Alice Dolly Cazon and Edward Lafferty. She was raised and lived her whole life in Fort Simpson. She passed away on January 8, 2019.
When people spoke about Rozsika, they remembered spending time together and her stories, the stories that consistently revealed her absolutely bottomless love for her sons Demerius and Zolton, her parents, brothers, sisters, and indeed all of her family and friends.
Her mother, Dolly, tells stories of her daughter as a mischievous child always having the maximum amount of fun possible with her friends, and as Rozsika became a young woman, the tender moments they shared when she came home to touch base with her mother.
Her family talked about how Rozsika was a rough-and-tumble girl in her childhood, often playing and keeping up with the boys. This did not come as a surprise for people, and it served her well when she joined the Canadian Rangers in 2005.
During her career with the first Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, Rozsika served in Operation Nanook, Operation Nunakput, and on many local area Type 1 and Type 2 exercises. In March of 2011, Rozsika took top shot for the Fort Simpson Ranger Patrol, the first and only female to accomplish this.
During the local exercises, Rozsika would put her all into every task assigned to her, and when she would see others begin to tire, she would bring out that smile, that huge smile, the one that would reassure that, no matter how hard the task, we were going to have fun accomplishing it. Rozsika could turn hard work into play.
Rozsika could always find something to giggle about, and those giggles were infectious. Everybody looked forward to the uncontrollable and embarrassing belly laughs that followed.
Most notably in her Ranger career, Rozsika served at Operation Nanook in Resolute Bay where First Air flight 6560 crashed. When this happened, Rozsika volunteered for the most difficult of tasks. Over the course of four days and nights, Rozsika did this work with poise and persistence. As a young woman, Rozsika showed great maturity during this time, and as always, she maintained her ability to lift the team's spirits with her love and laughter.
She was survived by her father, Ernest Tsetso, Sr., mother, six brothers, three sisters, and her two sons.
The Cazon and Tsetso families would like to take this moment to thank their friends, family, and community to our beloved Rozsika for their kind words and support during this time.