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Memorable Manitobans: Zephirin Gascon (1826-1914)
Born at St. Anne des Plaines, near Montreal, in 1826, he came to St. Boniface in 1859. He began theological studies at St. Norbert but interrupted them to work as a missionary in northern Canada. He spent 30 years working among Indigenous peoples, establishing the Grand Rapids Mission at Providence on the Mackenzie River. He then went up the Mackenzie and founded a second mission on one of its branches, the Liard River. His health suffered from a combination of malnutrition, poor clothing, and hard labour before he returned to St. Boniface in 1889. He spent a few years at Edmonton then was recalled to Winnipeg around 1902 and worked here for five years until poor health confined him to a chair. He died at St. Boniface on 3 January 1914 and was buried in the St. Charles Franciscan Fathers Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Gascon School No. 996 (RM of Coldwell)
Sources:
“Martyr to hardships of remote northern wilds, Father Gascon is dead,” Winnipeg Telegram, 5 January 1914. [Legislative Library of Manitoba, Biographical Scrapbook B5, page 208.
“Many mourn at passing of old priest-pioneer,” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 January 1914, page 6.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 December 2021
Memorable Manitobans
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