Fr. George's 10th Anniversary Memorial Mass and the reception that followed was truly a distinguished tribute to him and all who loved him. It was wonderful to see so many in attendance! Many thanks to all of the Priests who concelebrated the Mass, to Deacon John and Deacon Matthew, to Sr. Pauline, to Fr. George's family, to our lectors, greeters, ushers, and volunteers, to all those who provided the refreshments, to the Ste. Anne's choir, which included both present and former members joined together in song, and to the Planning Committee. Fr. George will forever be in our hearts. May he rest in eternal peace.
We all came back here to remember Fr. George Dufour – Our Pastor – Our Priest and Our Friend.
Everyone here has a memory of him – how he influenced them in thought, word and deed.
He respected the vocation he was given and the trust we extended to him as our Pastor. His wonderful laugh is silenced now … but if you really try, you can hear it; I know I can.
I spoke to parishioners of any memories they had of him, and I heard stories of how he helped them over the varied difficulties of remaining faithful to their family and to the family which is Ste. Anne’s in Salem. Fr. George would often repeat a phrase in these instances, that God is with us “in the good times of life and in the not so good times of life,” or in a phrase borrowed from Fr. Bourgeois, “God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.”
He knew all of the restaurants in Salem, and they knew him. He also made sure he got coffee for his staff meetings and made sure he visited most of the coffee shops, too. They ALL knew and remembered him.
When he sent out requests to each of them for donations for our Parish Bazaar, and they all did, he also thanked them personally.
Each Sunday of the Bazaar, he gave the Religious Education teachers and students a vacation day and encouraged them to enjoy the pancake breakfast, and he himself was there to pour syrup on the pancakes and hand out juice. He also made sure every child had $1 or change to the Dime Toss to win a goldfish and have fun in the game room. He also drew the winners for every raffle or prize in every booth.
Oh, and he put all of his pocket change into a big bottle every night throughout the year. We guessed how much was in the bottle and the person closest won the prize on the condition they returned the bottle by January 1st to be filled again for next year.
He began and ended every meeting with a prayer.
He loved Joe Stella’s music – especially on Easter Sunday when after repeating our baptismal promise, Joe played and the full choir sang “Flow River Flow.” Fr. George went up and down the aisles sprinkling us all with Holy Water and he didn’t miss!
One Sunday, the top of the sprinkler came off and went flying over our heads and landed in the corner safely. The altar server brought it back, Fr. Dufour put it back on tightly and finished the procession and blessing. The sprinkler was checked every time afterwards.
His “hook” to get us involved was “I have heard a rumor there may be lobster rolls served.”
We could all tell stories of this man from Madawaska, Maine, my friend and yours, Father George. But I have 5 minutes. Hopefully, you will all tell us stories about him as you join us for light refreshments after Mass.
As you can all see when you look around, we are now a very diverse family: now, the strong French foundation, the Filipino community who came around 1986, the Cameroon community who joined us about 15 years ago, and many others… Irish, English, Polish, Italian, Russian, Ukraine, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Congolese, and oh yes, the Scots. Each member of our Family of Ste. Anne’s here on Castle Hill has a gift; a skill that the Family needs to help make us strong and grow in this challenging time.
We can see many of you have gone to other parishes for various reasons, and we respect them all and your right to do so!
If you need a personal invitation, you have it now. Please, for the love of God and for Ste. Anne’s, please come home. Share your stories, speak to someone you have never spoken to before and listen to them and their story. We all have something in common – Our Faith – Our Church and Our Clergy!
Rest in peace, my friend. You still have a place in our hearts.