TULITA/FORT NORMAN
She panicked as the floor began to move beneath her and bolted from the house.

St. Therese of Avila in Tulita has major foundation problems, with part of the building sinking into the ground. Pastoral leader Celeste Goulet said she hopes the issue will be dealt with this summer. - photo courtesy of Frank Isherwood

"From the minute I opened the door I don't know what happened," said Marlene Wolki. "I just saw this light shoot over my head."

Barely aware of her actions, she sprinted past a few homes and the Paulatuk nursing station before entering the Roman Catholic Mission House.

Wolki, who is now 50-years old, was 16 at the time and she was having her first heavenly vision.

White noise filled her ears when she came to in a corner of the mission house's kitchen.

"I'm thinking to myself, how did I get here? Why am I crying?" she recalled, adding Father Leonce Dehurtavent was sitting across from her grinning.

"He's talking and I can't hear what he's saying. But all of the sudden I heard the word Jesus and I don't have to look up, I could see J-E-S-U-S over my head like I hit a jackpot and the lights are going off ding, ding, ding! Something so warm and beautiful came over me . I just wanted to sing, I wanted to whistle."

It was if she was being anointed, said Wolki.

"It's something I long for today."

Although the white two-story mission house stands boarded up and unused these days, it serves as not only a reminder to Wolki of her teenage vision of Jesus, but of memories of social gatherings past and of Father Leonce, who called the building home for 48 years before retiring in 1996.

Two priests built the mission house in 1935. The church was on the top floor and the living quarters on the bottom. It operated a small trading post and served as Paulatuk's religious, economic and social centre until 1954, according to Parks Canada.

In 1955, the majority of Paulatuk's inhabitants left for Cape Parry to work at the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line site, which was being built. Years later they returned to take up residence again.

Parks Canada considered classifying the building as a National Historic Site but nothing ever came of it.

The mission has slowly deteriorated and now is in dire need of repairs, including a new roof, insulation and electrical upgrades.

"It kind of needs a whole do-over," said Bishop Mark Hagemoen. "We were kind of worried it was beyond repair. With the initial inspection things are pretty stable but it looks pretty bad . we're trying to come up with a solution with the community that would be a low maintenance kind of solution."

Utilities are a big issue, he added.

Wolki said she's hopeful the community, the Roman Catholic diocese and other stakeholders can work together to preserve it.

She fondly remembers how people would meet to chat with each other and Father Leonce and walk away feeling renewed, said Wolki. People also played games, such as tug-of-war or skip, outside the mission.

"It was a social and a spiritual place. Each person in Paulatuk has their own story including myself," she said.

Wolki remembers how Father Leonce's door was always open.

In her younger years, she and the other youths in the community would sometimes show up at his living quarters in the early morning and take over the place. He would feed the children breakfast and some of them would fall asleep on his bed.

"He was a real kind-hearted person to allow us to do something like that," she said. "Every time we pass by (the mission house) we think of Father. There are so many stories. If that place is ever taken away . the mark of Paulatuk would be taken away."

The mission is among a number of buildings owned by the Roman Catholic diocese of Mackenzie Fort-Smith that are in need of repair.

The diocese held its second annual Bishop's dinner Feb. 7 in Yellowknife and during event, Bishop Hagemoen used the opportunity to highlight work that needs to be done.

"We do have a lot of church buildings that have been around awhile and some very much need attention," he said.

"If we don't deal with them in the next couple of years they would be in very bad shape."

St. Therese of Avila in Tulita sits on top of the list. The church has a major foundation problem, with one end of the building sinking into the ground. It's also missing siding as a result of a windstorm.

The church took two years to build (the basement was dug out by hand) and was finished in 1962. It replaced a smaller, more ornate, church.

The current structure has a set of living quarters with seven bedrooms and a big kitchen connected to it.

"At that time they thought Tulita would become one of the larger centres, one of the larger communities but it actually never worked out," said pastoral leader Celeste Goulet. "Shortly after that they started to have less priests."

The church has played to witness to many important activities, from weddings to baptisms to community feasts.

If it had to be demolished, the building would be missed, said Goulet, who has lived in Tulita for more than three decades.

"It took them (the locals) a long time to get over the first church being taken down."

In total, the Roman Catholic diocese has 25 churches across 25 NWT commuties.