Ontario/IBNS: Jean Pare, a top-selling Canadian cookbook author, known for her Company’s Coming cookbook series, has died in Edmonton on Christmas Eve at 95, media reports said.

Raised in Irma, Alta., located about 180 kilometres east of Edmonton, Paré a farm girl from a small village in rural Alberta, and her family built a three-generation publishing company where she authored more than 200 Company’s Coming cookbooks.

By the time she retired in 2011, an estimated 30 million copies had been sold.

In 2004, Paré was made a member of the Order of Canada.

Born in 1927, Paré launched a career in food after her first divorce forced her to start over, her granddaughter was reported to say.

For nearly 20 years Paré had a successful catering career before launching Company’s Coming Publishing in 1980 with her son, Grant Lovig.

Paré first book, 150 Delicious Squares, was released in 1981, followed by other popular titles such as 30-Minute Weekday Meals and 5-Ingredient Slow Cooker Recipes.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)