Obituary Notice
Sister Gabrielle Jean
Jean-de-Milan
entered Eternal Life on June 8, 2010
at age 86 years
in religious life 65 years
+ 2321
“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much.”
(Lk. 12:48)
How does one summarize a life as filled as that of Sr. Gabrielle Jean? Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the second child of Alfred and Claudine (Guillemette) Jean, she was surrounded very early in life by three younger sisters and two brothers, one of whom would live but a few days. In a modest tenement of Little Canada along the Merrimack River, Gabrielle soon learned the current religious devotions as well as the necessary domestic tasks.
Frail in health, the mother succumbed to the task and left her spouse in mourning with six young children, the eldest of whom was barely 12 years of age. The children were all enrolled at St. Joseph School under the direction of the Grey Nuns of the Cross who assured them of their affection and on-going concern and guided them for the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation. Although the father hired a young girl to help with the care of the children, this did not suffice and he was also taken from them three years after the loss of their mother.
The paternal grandparents and an unmarried aunt came to the rescue. Gabrielle completed her primary school and enrolled in the Catholic secondary school where she succeeded very well.
A text written by her during her years of religious formation reveal that, as an adolescent, she held three dreams close to her heart: to be a teacher, to obtain a doctorate and to become a religious.
No sooner had she entered the postulate in 1942 than her gifts were recognized and she was assigned to assist Sr. Paul-Émile who was researching the history of the Congregation in prepa-ration for the Centennial. This experience would serve her well later in her life.
Once she was professed, a single year as a teacher in the primary grades determined quickly that she was not in her element. The following year, the more serious secondary school students seemed more suited to her. While teaching, Sr. Gabrielle pursued her studies in view of the Bachelor’s degree in Biology, followed by a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling. The time had come for the psychological evaluations of candidates for the religious life, and Sr. Gabrielle found herself once more in studies, this time for a Doctorate in Psychology, so that she could undertake this community service for St. Joseph Province. And, behold, her three ado-lescent dreams had been fulfilled!
From 1961 to 1970, Sr. Gabrielle taught psychology at the college level in the States of Missouri, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Then, at the request of the Redemptorist theologian Bernard Häring, she received permission to spend a year in Rome to assist with the editing of the English translation of his volumes on morality and medical ethics.
After two years spent as a counselor at the House of Affirmation, a therapeutic center for religious in Massachusetts, the congregation asked her to return to Lowell to assume the administration of D’Youville Manor from 1976 to 1980. It is during this period that she would introduce the Adult Day Center where older persons could spend the day receiving needed care but be able to return to their families in the evenings and on week-ends.
In 1981, she moved to the national capital in Washington, D.C., and worked for two years at CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate), after which she gave three years to St. Luke’s Institute, a therapeutic center for clergy and religious.
From 1986 until 1994, at which time she was appointed Provincial Superior, Sr. Gabrielle was involved in the evaluation of candidates to the priesthood and permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Washington, as well as of candidates to religious life for certain men’s congregations.
Throughout this period, Sr. Gabrielle published several articles in magazines for religious, commented the Pastoral Letter on Health Care from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and gave conferences at national gatherings.
In all this activity, Sr. Gabrielle received a request from the congregation to undertake the translation of the two volumes of Sr. Paul-Émile on Élisabeth Bruyère and the history of the Congregation so that our English-speaking Sisters could have access to the sources of our history. When the extensive bio-graphy of Élisabeth Bruyère, work of Mr. Émilien Lamirande, was published, she was also entrusted with its official translation. All this immersion in our roots and our history allowed her to be in a position to offer much appreciated conferences to the Sisters in the Province as well as to the Associates and to gatherings of Grey Nuns.
During her mandate as Provincial Superior, in spite of the obvious aging of the Sisters, Sr. Gabrielle opened a new mission in Newark, NJ, in the midst of a Hispanic population. The Sisters would remain there 11 years. She also saw to the construction of a new building for D’Youville Manor (to be re-named D’Youville Senior Care Center) so as to better serve the aging population according to the government’s revised guide-lines. She participated fully in the expansion of its services.
Sr. Gabrielle’s gifts were not limited to intellectual pursuits. Who had not admired her embroidery and knitted goods or enjoyed a special dish during her holiday visits to Lowell?
In spite of her many achievements and the extensive list of honours bestowed on her, it is only in reading Sr. Gabrielle’s curriculum vitae that one is fully aware of them. She was not one to boast. The Lord had gifted her with a superior intelligence which she utilized to the full for God’s glory and not her own.
Who could possibly have surmised that a woman of such potential would become victim to a terrible illness which would lead to severe damage of her brain cells? For more than five years, Sr. Gabrielle was a resident of the special care unit that she herself had helped establish at D’Youville Senior Care Center. She who had sought to bring adequate care to the most vulnerable of the senior members of our society now suddenly found herself truly identified with them and sharing their lot. No doubt, God was waiting for her there and watched over her through the excellent care she received.
