- December 4, 2025
Georgette Joubert died on March 16, 2024, at the age of 90. Since then, her red living room chair has taken on a quiet meaning. Benji, the somewhat feral cat that used to only bond with her, has hardly left the chair since, and now calls it home.
“She was God's gift to the world,” Joubert's widower, Gene Yavorski, said of Georgette. “I still can’t get her out of my mind. This is why I got these pictures all over the house here, reminding me of her and the times that we had together.”
Joubert, a Canadian-born scholar and trailblazer, held a PhD in French and was one of the first female pilots in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In one flight, the engine fell off the plane mid-air, sending the aircraft into a spiral. It crashed into a swamp, but Joubert emerged unharmed except for a broken fingernail that she complained about, Yavorski said.
“That was Georgette. She was always leading people because she had a brilliant, brilliant mind. Just a very unusual person,” Yavorksi said.
She quickly built a reputation for herself in her professional life.
“She was so well received. In two weeks, she was asked to go up to be an assistant to the CEO of L’Oréal,” Yavorski said.
When she was asked for a personal favor she found inappropriate, she refused and resigned without hesitation, Yavorski said.
Joubert was also quite active here in the Palm Coast area. She belonged to the Matanzas River Yacht Club for 35 years. She was the club’s commodore and longstanding editor of High Tide Low Tide, the club’s monthly newsletter. For 22 years, Yavorski assisted with newsletter delivery and managed party setup for the club.
It was entirely by chance that Yavorski and Joubert met in 1997. Georgette was introduced to him by a buyer while Yavorski was selling his sailboat after losing his wife.
“I needed a wife, and she needed some money,” he joked.
Their bond swiftly developed into a long-lasting partnership based on respect and adoration. That same rare connection extended to Benji, a cat with what the breeder described as an untamable nature.
As soon as Benji was able to be on her own, she stuck to Georgette. She just fell in love with her. And Georgette fell in love with the cat.
— GENE JAVORSKI
“The breeder told us that this is not a cat. This is an animal and it has a wild heart. It will not come to you. It will not be a lap cat,” Yavorski said. “But Georgette had some sort of a smell about her that the cats just loved. As soon as Benji was able to be on her own, she stuck to Georgette. She just fell in love with her. And Georgette fell in love with the cat.”
Benji refused to venture inside the house following Joubert’s death. For months, the cat stayed outside, coming in only during storms.
“If there was lightning and thunder, she’d meow at the door. I’d let her in, and she’d stay until the storm was over. Then meow, meow — back outside,” Javorski said.
About nine months after Joubert’s passing, Yavorski brought her favorite red chair into the living room and placed a large framed photo of her on it.
“Then all of a sudden, Benji is at the door,” Javorksi said. “It’s not thundering or lightning. Why is this cat meowing to come in?”
Benji strolled inside and paused a few steps away from the chair. Yavorski described how she approached gently, placed her paws on the seat, and examined Georgette’s photo. She then leaped to her feet, proceeded to the picture, sniffed it, turned around, bowed her head and closed her eyes.
Benji has made the chair her permanent resting spot ever since that day.
“Now that’s her place,” Yavorski said. “She simply remains there as if she is aware of it, as if she were with Georgette.”
For Yavorski, the sight of Benji in the chair offers quiet reassurance. The chair is no longer just furniture, it is a small altar of memory and love, silently honoring a woman whose presence was strong enough to tame even the wildest of hearts.
