Lanni Cleret de Langavant, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who spent most of her summers on the Vineyard growing up, died August 23 of a heart attack in Montreal, Quebec. She was 85.

She was born Laura Nancy Garner in Westwood on August 20, 1932 and spent many summers learning and later teaching swimming and sailing at the Sailing Camp in Vineyard Haven. She graduated with honors from Westwood High School and attended Ward-Belmont Junior College in Nashville, Tenn., where she was a member of Phi Theta Kappa honorary scholastic fraternity, and Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Va. She finished her Etudes Politiques at La Sorbonne in Paris, France where she was awarded the certificate of the Institute.

She had incredible energy and delved deeply into every activity she undertook. All who knew her were impressed by her charisma, integrity, generosity and commitment to those in need. During her lifetime she volunteered for many causes including (but not limited to) the Red Cross, the Montreal symphony orchestra, and St-Mary’s hospital, as well as for the causes supported by her beloved Dragon boat team: The Power of the Dragon (for survivors of breast cancer).

Lanni was also actively involved in the real estate business, having been an agent for over 30 years with the Montreal Trust and then a member of the discipline committee for the Quebec Real Estate Board (OACIQ) for over a decade. She had many friends from all walks of life and was actively involved in several sports and social activities such as line dancing, yoga, aquaform, figure skating, bridge, the opera and L’Alliance Francaise. She loved making music, nature and travel.

She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Bernard; her children, Laure, Jack, Corinne, Eric, and Ghislaine; her seven grandchildren, including Islander Spencer de Langavant-Sahr; and her American family, brother Robert V. Garner and his wife Betty Abel, their children Jimmy, Anne (and her husband Tom Curry), Peter and David, and their grandchildren, as well as her extended family in France and numerous friends.

A celebration of Lanni’s life was held on Sept. 5. She was buried on the mountain near the woods of the Mount Royal cemetery in Montreal, Quebec.