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I was born in Chapeau, Québec on May 7, 1923. In a family of eight children, four boys and four girls, I had a twin brother, Carl. I belonged to St. Alphonsus Parish in Chapeau and was baptized and confirmed there. As a child I did regular chores around the house and farm. I attended a one-room country school, Duffy School, where the teacher had to be bilingual and teach all grades. The school was two miles from the farm and in the winter it was a cold walk. On one occasion the bottle of milk in my lunch bag was frozen solid when I arrived at school. After grade seven I attended a French school in Demers Center to learn French. I then went to Chapeau to high school classes with the Sisters of St. Joseph. The summer after high school, I helped my parents on the farm. A visit from Father Renwick led to a discussion of my future. I told him that I had thoughts of going to the Precious Blood Sisters. He soon changed my mind and shortly after, at age eighteen, I entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke, Ontario. I received the habit on March 19, 1942 and took the religious name of Sister Modesta. I made my First Profession in March 1944 and Final Vows in 1947. My many assignments took me to many convents run by the Sisters of St. Josehph where I did Community services for a number of years. I was assigned to Killaloe, Douglas, Barrhead, Alberta; Sheenboro, Calabogie , Douglas and Renfrew. In 1968, I took the R.N.A. Course at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Ottawa. Having completed the course I was assignand Santa Maria’s Home in Regina, Saskatchewan. When I returned east I took a Pastoral Care Course from St. Paul’s University in Ottawa in the summer of 1974. After this course Sister Josephine Hass telephoned me to ask me to come Chapeau. The ministry was to the third and fourth Beatitude, to care for the people of Chapeau, those who mourn, those who endure suffering, and the lonely. As I visited people, I got a great welcome in their homes. I did things for my parents for they were getting older. My father had a hair clipper set I sometimes used them to cut men’s hair especially during the winter months. I could tell you many stories about the couple who lived in a small one room house in Demers Center, Quebec. If someone did not get there that day, they would have frozen to death. An ambulance came and took them to the hospital. Before leaving I searched the house because I knew that they kept their money hidden somewhere. I found it and gave it to the bank manager who happened to be his nephew. It was kept for them in a safe place. He ended up in to a hospital in Hull where he died. His wife went to live with her brother, and eventually went to a senior home. Many more stories could be told of a men and woman who live in Chapeau and surrounding area. Each story is about someone who is old, alone living in the poorest of conditions, a small house, no electricity, a wood stove, a heater, no running water, and a few cats. As a Sister of St. Joseph I carry out my ministry like any missionary who goes to another country in need. The only difference is that I am able to do it right here at home. I feel I am a missionary at heart.
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