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Lucien Loiselle loved nature \u2014 a gift he shared with his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI passed that love on to my five kids, one of whom works in French media and another who intends to become a teacher in the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loiselle died on March 14 at age 85.<\/p>\n
Born in Morris, he lived a year in Letellier until his family moved to Transcona, and eventually made his forever home in St. Boniface in 1949. It was there that he met the love of his life, aptly named Lucienne. Less than five months later, in 1963, the young couple married at the St. Boniface Cathedral. Together they had three sons: Michel, Richard and Robert, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Michel remembers hearing about the news-making stories around the time his parents were getting together to begin their life adventure.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom had a faulty heart valve. The life expectancy was not very high at that time. Just after my father and mother met and fell in love, she had a heart operation at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S.,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
Because the province wouldn\u2019t cover the expense of the life-saving operation, the community at large rallied around her and protested, which resulted in the province reversing its decision.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Lucien Loiselle was born in Morris, and moved to St. Boniface in 1949.<\/p>\n \u201cShe got the operation and survived, came back and married my father. Without that operation, we wouldn\u2019t have come into existence,\u201d Michel said.<\/p>\n The couple not only had a family together but generously contributed their time, energy and skills to countless community endeavours.<\/p>\n Loiselle played a key role in the creation of the Centre Culturel de Saint-Boniface, later known as le Centre culturel franco-manitobain, serving as president for a time in the \u201980s. Part of the founding committee of Folklorama, he was also founder and co-ordinator of the French Canadian pavilion.<\/p>\n Co-founder of Folklore Canada International \u2014 where he maintained the role of president for 20 years \u2014 he was CEO of l\u2019Ensemble folklorique de la Rivi\u00e8re-Rouge, official voyageur for the Festival du Voyageur, founding member of l\u2019Ordre des voyageurs officiels, and president of l\u2019Association des scouts du Manitoba.<\/p>\n His list of community involvements and accomplishments includes engagements in local, national and international organizations. If it improved the community, he was part of it.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t SUPPLIED<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Lucien and Lucienne were married in 1963.<\/p>\n As a teacher, Loiselle\u2019s career spans time at Pr\u00e9cieux-Sang School, Louis Riel College and Saint-Boniface High School, inspiring countless students. He also served as assistant principal at Coll\u00e8ge Secondaire de St. Boniface, before it became Coll\u00e8ge Louis-Riel, for almost 10 years. In 1982, his career trajectory took him to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, where he worked until his retirement in 1999.<\/p>\n Widely respected in the francophone community of Manitoba for his community and political work, Loiselle was chair of or a participant in multiple committees and organizations that founded core Franco-Manitoban institutions and promoted French-speaking Manitoba at every level.<\/p>\n With his wife \u2014 they were known as a power couple in the francophone community \u2014 he received the Louis Riel Award in 1997, for their 40 years-plus of community activism and dedication.<\/p>\n For youngest son Robert, MLA for St. Boniface since 2023, there were two things his father did exceptionally well.<\/p>\n \u201cHe loved our mother Lucienne deeply. His love for our mother was a powerful example for the three of us. And he took us outside in the great outdoors. Taking us camping, canoeing and to our beloved cottage has had positive generational impacts on our own families and our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n In retirement, the pair travelled extensively across the country in their motor home, often taking their grandchildren with them. A few winters were spent in Arizona. Loiselle volunteered at the Centre du Patrimoine to organize his personal archives and those of his loved ones.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t SUPPLIED<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Lucien Loiselle waves from a float during the Festival du Voyageur in 1977.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew as a family that he was always a busy man,\u201d Michel said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were important meetings related to community and grassroots work. Sometimes we would have wished he was home a bit more, but we had the summers off to catch up on family trips,\u201d he said, remembering rides in the old station wagon, eating every kind of fresh fruit from the stands along the way.<\/p>\n Loiselle had been actively involved in the Scout movement as a young man, spending as much time as he could in nature. His children inherited that same appreciation for the outdoors.<\/p>\n \u201cOur father brought love of nature, connecting with the boreal forest in northern Manitoba. There was lots of fishing, exploring, building forts, going on hikes. We had a 16-foot canoe \u2014 it was like an expedition, paddling all together,\u201d Michel said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was the family cottage, an old log cabin in Beresford Lake. Mom and Dad received it as wedding gift from Grandfather,\u201d he continued, noting that the site in Nopiming Provincial Park was one of multiple gold mines, which as children they\u2019d happily explore.<\/p>\n
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