Sister Madeleine Latour

“I have come to do your will, O God.” Heb. 10: 7

January 1, 2012, Sister Madeleine Latour,
in religion Esther-Marie, went home to God.

She was 97 years old and had been professed for 68 years.
Born in Valleyfield, Quebec, she was the 10th of 12 children of Wilbrod Latour and Esther Beauchamp.

Madeleine was 10 years old when her mother died.  Four of her older brothers and sisters were already married. She stayed with her father, four brothers and her sister Blanche, age 17, who took charge of the household. Madeleine helped her out while continuing her studies right until she completed “Normal School” where she obtained her ‘Brevet Supérieur’ (a teaching diploma).

Her desire to enter religious life would have to wait. For 9 years, Madeleine taught in the primary school of the municipality.  At the age of 26, unbeknown to her sister, she took the necessary steps to enter the novitiate of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

Sister Esther-Marie had a 41-year career teaching grades one through ten, mainly in our schools in Montreal, “....always bringing a remarkable diligence to her teaching as well as to observing less important instructions. She loves her students.”

From the age of 60, Sister Madeleine served as a secretary. She was appreciated for being a woman who was active, efficient, resourceful and meticulous. Because of her very sensitive nature, she suffered. In good times, her sense of humour cheered up her companions; she knew how to enhance her relationships with others with great tactfulness.

The last 20 years of her life were spent in our infirmaries in Outremont and then in Longueuil. Throughout the years, her desire to “do God’s will, to fully rely on Him” prepared her, when the time finally came, to give her life back to the Lord.