Fort Resolution (Apr 03/06) - A French priest who served in the North for 40 years has died.

Father Lou Menez passed away on March 25 at his home in Lyon, France, after suffering a stroke. He was 83.

Father Lou Menez, who died late last month in France, served 40 years in Northern Canada. - photo courtesy of Father Camille Piche

Menez is remembered fondly by the many Northerners who knew him, particularly in Fort Resolution, where he served for many years until 1989.

"We lost a good friend," says Dorothy Beaulieu, who once helped Menez teach religion in Fort Resolution.

Beaulieu says Menez was well-liked by people. "He was one of the family."

That sentiment is echoed by Chief Robert Sayine of Deninu Ku'e First Nation.

"Everybody liked him and respected him," Sayine says. "He was part of the community."

Menez received his first posting in 1949 at Fort Resolution/Rocher River, where he initially served for five years.

In 1954, he was asked to work with Inuit at Bathurst Inlet in the Central Arctic. In 1964, he moved to Cambridge Bay.

In 1966, he returned to Fort Resolution, where he served until 1989.

Active in politics

In Fort Resolution, he is remembered for taking an active part in local politics.

Sayine says Menez, who learned to speak Chipewyan, even took part in band council meetings.

Former NWT premier Don Morin says Menez encouraged people in Fort Resolution to work together, get involved and make decisions for themselves about everything from building homes, to tackling major issues like the Pine Point mine and a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Slave River.

"Lou worked with us on all those issues, giving us advice," Morin says.

In fact, Morin says when he first considered running for MLA, Menez encouraged him to do so.

"A lot of people can thank Lou for what they achieved in life, including myself," Morin says.

Morin last saw Menez while on a trip to Europe in the early 1990s.

"We had always hoped that some day he would come back to visit, but his health would not allow it," Morin says.

Father Camille Piche worked closely with Menez and considered him a good friend.

"He was a very, very active person," says Piche from St. Albert, Alta.

Piche notes Menez was also very intelligent and interested in many subjects. He recalls once seeing him sitting alone, reading the Bible in Greek. "He was a guy who was interested in everything and everyone," he recalls.

Piche says Menez was very socially active and interested in politics.

"He really took the side of the people," Piche says, noting he supported more power for aboriginal people in the colonial-like government of the 1950s and 1960s and took an active part in the social transformation of the NWT in the 1970s and 1980s.

Even when Menez returned to France, he was concerned about the social marginalization of immigrants, Piche notes. "He always believed it was possible to bring about a new and more just social order."

Aside from his political interests, Menez is remembered as an avid cross-country skier and dog musher.

Beaulieu also notes he loved sports, including watching hockey on television.

She recalls that during the 1972 Canada/USSR hockey series, Menez cheered enthusiastically for Canada.

"I was sure he was going to fall off his chair," Beaulieu says.

Suffering from acute asthma and acting on the advice of doctors, he moved to Lyon for a change of climate and joined an Oblate community there.

Menez was the last Roman Catholic priest stationed in Fort Resolution. The community is now served by a priest who visits once a month from Hay River.