Soeur Marie Cecile

Cecile was born on December 4, 1912 in Port Daniel, on the Gaspé Peninsula, in Quebec, the second eldest of eleven children born to Wenceslas & Alice Poirier.

When Cecile was 14 years old, she and her sister Eugénie learned to sew. Their teacher was Mrs. Blanchette, an excellent seamstress, who lived just a few houses away and who had learned her trade in France. The two years of instruction served Cecile well, and she continued to enjoy sewing all her life.

Cecile had many friends when she was growing up, and Simon Casey was one of them. One winter day Cecile and some of her sisters and brothers decided to go sleighing. Simon, Cecile, Adrien and another sister were on one sleigh, and Simon was selected to steer. The plan was to go down a steep hill, turn at the bottom, and go through a gate leading to the next hill. The plan was good, but Simon's steering was not, and the group did not make it through the gate! Instead, Simon ran the sleigh headlong into a post, and knocked himself out. A big nail sticking out of the fence grabbed Cecile as she flew past, going through her coat and tearing a big gash in her side. After Simon was revived everyone went home. Knowing their Mother would not be pleased with Cecile's injury, the children tried to hide the problem by having Eugénie bandage Cecile, but the wound was too large and could not be hidden from Mother for long. Needless to say, on that day Mother was not pleased with her children!

Cecile in 1985

In 1928, when Cecile was 16, her father Wenceslas moved to Lac Magloire, Alberta, and the following year five of her sisters boarded the train to go live with him. Cecile remained in Port Daniel to help her mother care for her other four siblings. In 1930, Cecile and her mother, along with the remaining children, took the same trip on the train and the family was finally reunited.

Patsy remembers the evening of May 30th, 1932, when Cecile woke her around 11:00 pm, told her to get dressed, and took her and all her brothers and sisters to the icehouse. No one knew why. There seemed to be millions of mosquitoes in the icehouse, and Adrien tried to keep them away by burning some grass in a bucket, hoping the smoke would provide some relief from the pests. But it didn't, and the children spent the entire night in the icehouse, with no one managing to get much sleep. The next morning (May 31st) Cecile came to the icehouse and told the children there was a surprise waiting for them at the house. They all assembled in their parent's bedroom, where they had their first view of their baby sister Jana in her mother's arms. Now the children knew what Cecile and Mrs. Laliberté had been busy doing all night! Cecile gave each child a chance to hold their new sister, but not for too long because they didn't want to spoil Jana!

Year unknown. Taken at the house in Falher
Sr. Cecile and her Mother

After Jana was born, Cecile and her sister Aurore worked in Grouard at the bishop's residence for a short while.

In 1933, Cecile got a job in Girouxville with Mr. & Mrs. Bourgeois. She would work alongside René Soucy and his wife doing household duties and gardening. This would give her an income that she would pass on to her parents to help with the children. The children would be so excited when they knew Cecile would be coming home. They knew that it meant Cecile would be making their favorite dish, "balouche au chocolat", which is chocolate pudding. She had learned to make this pudding when she was a young girl working for a family who lived on the English side of Port Daniel.

It was during this time, when Cecile was about 21 years old, that she met a man named René Bechard, who lived in the Girouxville area. They dated for a while and Cecile was in love! Patsy remembers him coming to see Cecile at the farm. Then one day he was gone, never to return. No one remembers why he left, but they do remember that Cecile was devastated. This is when she decided to become a nun. She told her family that she never wanted to love and be hurt like this again. In 1935, she joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross and became a Novitiate for three months. Then she moved to Quebec for two years.

Photo taken in 1944
Back row: Sr. Lauzon, Alice Poirier, Lucienne, Sr. Cecile and Aurore
Center row: Jean, Roger   Denise Lauzon,
Jana with Pierrette Lauzon in front of her, Eugénie with Mariette
Front row: Paul Chouinard

In 1938, Cecile returned to Edmonton from Quebec and went to school for a couple of years to study to be a cook. She found this difficult, as she was now 26 years old and younger then most of the other students. It was hard for her to figure certain things out, but she made it - she was finally a cook!

After finishing her course, she moved back to Falher and became a cook at the convent. Lucienne remembers seeing and talking to her everyday at lunchtime. Cecile stayed at the Falher convent for a few years.

From 1942 to 1956 she resided at the Grande Prairie convent, which was located northwest of the college, where the museum is today. From 1956 to 1967 she used her culinary skills at St. Jude's University Residence in Edmonton.

1980 - Gardening at Adrien & Cecile's home

Cecile visited her family often. In her earlier years of being a nun she was allowed to travel only if she had another nun with her, so she would travel with Sr. Gracia and Sr. Madeleine, the Lauzon sisters. This was very convenient as the Lauzon sisters had a brother, Raoul, who was married to Cecile's sister, Eugénie, and everyone lived within a mile of each other.

In 1968, Cecile moved to the Sisters of The Holy Cross residence on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton where she served as a cook until she retired in 1995. During those years in Edmonton, she spent a couple of summers at the Jean-Côté convent, taking care of things while the other nuns were gone for the summer. Her mother would also spend the summer with her, and Louise Garand remembers spending a week or so with them at the convent. In 2002, the Sisters' residence was relocated to a new building on 88th Avenue. The new facilities were very spacious and comfortable, and Cecile was very content there.

Cecile loved to do gardening, crocheting, knitting and sewing, and of course cooking. She loved life and enjoyed herself when with family. She passed away May 12, 2004.

1987 - Enjoying ice cream and life with her sister Lucia

1995 - Cecile's last quilt

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This is a combination of recollections from Patsy Parent, Lucienne Forcier, Adrien & Cecile Poirier and Jana Leslie. Their contribution is greatly appreciated, as it was very hard to get the whole story, since many of the older family members have passed away.

Created September 2007