Jean Paré

Life Paré was born on December 7, 1927, in Irma, Alberta, to Edward and Ruby Elford. The family moved to Edmonton. Jean married her first husband, Clarence Lovig, in 1946. In 1959, they moved to Vermilion, Alberta, where they owned and operated the Vermilion Auction Mart. Later they built and operated the Vegreville Auction Mart as well. Jean and Clarence were divorced in the mid 1960s, leaving Jean on her own with two school-age children to support.

Using a $1,000 loan from a local bank, she opened a small café in Vermilion. There, she met her second husband, Larry Paré, a single father of three children.

Jean Paré was the author of Company's Coming cookbooks, published and distributed by Company's Coming Publishing Limited, which she co-founded in 1981. She oversaw publication of more than 17,000 kitchen-tested recipes and the publication of more than 200 cookbooks.

Among her accomplishments was her appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada.

In 2009, she donated her collection of 6,700 cookbooks, many of them collections of recipes from women from community organizations, churches, and Canadian local groups, to the University of Guelph.