PETIT DE GRAT: A tireless advocate for Acadian culture, language, and education, who also served as the chair of the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP) has passed away.
Louise Marchand of Petit de Grat died on June 14 at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish at the age of 72.
In a statement released last week, the CSAP expressed “great sadness” at Marchand’s passing. The board noted that she joined the elected board in 2011, and from 2019 to 2020 served as chair.
Jeanalle d’Entremont, the vice-chair of the CSAP, worked closely with Marchand during this time and called her passing a loss for the Acadian community locally and around the province.
“We were not only partners in the school board, we became friends because we believe the same thing,” she told The Reporter. “L’Acadie has lost a great ambassador. She was in a class of her own. She knew what she wanted and she worked for it. She was a woman of action. She was never self-serving; she had strong convictions and worked for the Acadian community throughout the province.”
After attending Marchand’s funeral on Monday, d’Entremont noted there were people in attendance from around the province.
“She was passionate, but yet she was empathetic. She especially championed the cause of children with learning challenges,” she noted. “She was one of a kind, totally. She was funny, she loved to laugh, but she was very strong in her convictions. I’ve been involved in education and pushing for French education for as many years as her, but I don’t think I’ve never met anybody who was as strong in her convictions as Louise was.”
A graduate of StFX University, Marchand was a career educator, according to her obituary. She started in 1972 at Isle Madame District High, then was named vice principal and later principal of Petit de Grat Elementary School, “where thousands of students passed through her classroom doors,” it stated.
“Louise considered her profession a vocation and saw the potential in each of her students. She had high expectations for her students and awakened qualities they had to share with the world,” the obituary reads. “Even though she retired in 2006, she never stopped being a teacher – she continued to educate her children, grandchildren and members of the community in a variety of ways.”
A passionate promoter of Acadian culture, Marchand’s obituary noted that access to a quality education in French was her “great passion,” as she was one of the community leaders who succeeded in bringing French programming to Petit de Grat.
“Service to others and to the community has always been an important value for her. This was reflected in his many hours of volunteer work in our community,” the obituary reads. “She wanted to ensure the health of her school, cultural and religious community by contributing to its development on a daily basis.”
Former Richmond MLA Michel Samson, also a native of Petit de Grat, was a student of Marchand’s in Grade 11.
“She was well-known in the community as someone who was an ardent supporter and defender of the Acadian culture, the Acadian language, education rights, cultural rights,” he said. “She didn’t hesitate to be able to fight when one had to fight, but at the same time, I got to see her first-hand when it came to her role as president of the Acadian school board and trying to get a new provincial act for the board, of how diplomatic she could also be, and the reasoned approach that she brought to all of these different situations that she helped fight for over the years.”
Samson said during her time as CSAP board chair, Marchand employed a constructive approach that effectively pushed for things that would benefit the Acadian community and the whole province.
“During her time as president, there were some historic investments made into renovations and new school construction for the CSAP,” he noted. “I think it’s a reflection of the approach that she’d bring, certainly using her skills as a teacher, of being able to make the argument of why something needed to be done, and what investments needed to be made, and being fairly persistent with it, but always respectful and always recognizing the challenges that are faced by government on so many fronts. I think she struck that right balance.”
Samson worked closely with Marchand, who was part of a group of families which successfully lobbied his government for full-time access to the dialysis unit at Strait-Richmond Hospital.
“A number of families, including Louise’s husband Barry, were having to travel either to Sydney or to Antigonish up to three times a week to get dialysis services, and it was having a heavy toll, on both the patients and certainly their families and support networks,” he recalled. “For Louise, while she had a family interest, with her late husband requiring the service, she was always quick to point out the other families that were going to benefit from this, and that this would be a lasting benefit that would continue. She was always looking, not just for addressing an issue that was impacting her family, but how’s it going to help other families as well, and how is it going to continue to be sustainable going forward, and help many other families into the future.”