Former headteacher passes away in Canada

Wednesday 06 May 2020

Sister Marie Paul - the nun hundreds of adults will remember as their primary school headteacher at Notre Dame du Rosaire - has passed away, aged 89, after a long illness.

She had been living in her native Canada until her death, which was announced on Wednesday 29 April.

Her declining health had been announced by the Catholic Church in Guernsey last month as she was added to the island prayer list.

In a notice on the diocese website, while mass is being said remotely with no congregations allowed to gather within the churches, the parish asked for everyone to remember Sr Marie Paul in their own prayers.

Within days she had passed away "peacefully, aged 89, after a long illness".

Sister Marie Paul Villeneuve had been involved with education at Notre Dame du Rosaire Catholic Primary School for longer than anyone was able to confirm at the time of writing.

She is believed to have lived in Guernsey for more than 30 years in total, having started teaching at the school in the early 1970s before being appointed headteacher towards the end of the decade. She was headteacher throughout the 1980s, until her retirement in 1995. She was replaced then by Peter McGovern who himself only retired last year.

Pictured: Sister Marie Paul (far right) standing beside former Notre Dame teacher, Mrs Thompson, and infant pupils, during the late 1980s. 

Sr Marie Paul had remained in Guernsey for nearly a decade after her retirement from teaching.

Initially she was caring for Pere Lecluze, the popular French parish priest who was as synonymous with Notre Dame as Sister Marie Paul was.

He had lived in Guernsey since 1960 and was responsible for rebuilding the church and presbytery which share the grounds of the school in Burnt Lane. 

Pere Lecluze retired due to ill health in 2002 and moved to a nursing home in France. He came back to Guernsey in 2003 but sadly died two days later. 

Sr Marie Paul left Guernsey a year after the death of Pere Lecluze, along with Sister Edna. They had been the only remaining Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the island. 

The Order had established Notre Dame du Rosaire in 1874 to 'educate the poor children of the parish'. The current school in Burnt Lane is based around buildings paid for by the Order at the beginning of the 20th Century. The buildings were bought by the Catholic Church before the Sisters left the island in 2004 to ensure the continuation of education on the site.

Sr Marie Paul is believed to have spent time in France when she first left the island, before returning to Canada where she was from.

She is believed to have joined her Order as a teenager and started her teaching career in Canada. The longest period of her life is believed to have been spent in Guernsey, cementing her close ties with Notre Dame du Rosaire, its pupils and the Catholic community in the island. 

A family notice published in the Guernsey Press said that Sr Marie Paul's later years were spent in Canada where "she continued to serve the community in her generous and unassuming way, and she was pleased to be closer to her family.

"But she left her heart in Guernsey with the people and the island she would never forget."

There are plans for a memorial mass to be held in Sister Marie Paul's honour later in the year once the lockdown is lifted.

Pictured above and top: Images of Sister Marie Paul provided by Luke O'Donnell.