Young mother found dead in P.A. died tragically in bathtub: family

The recent death of a young mother in Prince Albert is being described as “heartbreaking” by a woman who knew her well.

Annette St. Germaine is the cousin and godmother of Dena Bruneau, the woman who was found dead at a residence in the 800 block of 4th Street East on Aug. 21.

While Prince Albert police have not released the cause of death, St. Germaine said Bruneau died tragically.

“Dena had worked the night before and she didn’t have any sleep all day Saturday,” St. Germain said. 

“She went and ran herself a nice hot bath, fell asleep, slipped under the water and drowned.”

Bruneau had moved back to Prince Albert from Shellbrook in March and worked with the Prince Albert Group Homes Society.

“She absolutely found her calling, she absolutely loved her job and just to see her so happy about what she was doing is just really heartbreaking,” St. Germaine said.

Bruneau leaves behind three young sons, ranging in age from three to 14 years old.

A GoFundMe page with a goal of $25,000 has now been set up to help the family pay for funeral costs and to help support the boys. 

“We’ve really realized through this whole process how expensive a funeral can be, and we wanted to have everything for her because she was such a beautiful human being,” St. Germaine said.

The godmother said in addition to paying for the funeral, she would also like to start trust funds for Bruneau’s sons. So far, St. Germain said support from the community and family has been incredible.

“The neighbours were there for my aunt until my uncle got there,” she said. 

“My relatives from Alberta came down and we just really rallied around our aunt (Bruneau’s mother) to give her that support.”

She said Bruneau’s second-oldest son is living with his father in Edmonton. The other two boys are staying with their grandmother.