Sister Claire Ménard, s.g.m. (1922-1998)

Claire Ménard is still seventeen years old when she joins the Grey Nuns, whom she knows well from two elder sisters who preceded her and from her studies at the congregation’s École Ménagère. Throughout her life she puts her cooking talents to good use, starting at the Motherhouse kitchen (1942-1955), followed by the Maisonneuve Hospital, the Marguerite-de-Lajemmerais School, the Foyer Rousselot, the Catholic Orphanage, the Notre-Dame-de-l’Espérance Convent (Vaudreuil-Dorion) and the Tunis Children’s Hospital in Tunisia. In 1977, she is assigned to the Accueil Bonneau where she serves tirelessly until her tragic death in the June 1998 explosion that destroys the building.

Sister Claire Ménard, s.g.m., [194-]. Grey Nuns of Montréal’s Archives, Personal File of Sister Claire Ménard

“Twenty years of life given for a cause: to love and serve ‘the guys’, the homeless, to give the best of herself to relieve their misery and bring a little sunshine into their lives.”

Biographical excerpt – Sister Rose-Alma Colin, s.g.m.
Grey Nuns of Montréal’s Archives, Personal File of Sister Claire Ménard

In 1969 she describes her mission as follows:

“I am very happy to work in the vineyard of the Lord through service to the poor. This mission brings me closer to Jesus as ‘poor’ to Jesus as ‘Love’. That is all that matters in my daily life as a cook (…). I will try to make love reign more by instilling joy into my cooking. With the hands of a Martha, I want to do things the manner of a Mary. For me, it is through working that I want to pray to Him.”

Letter from Sister Claire Ménard to Sister Mance Décary, s.g.m., 14 september 1969 (excerpt).
Grey Nuns of Montréal’s Archives, Personal File of Sister Claire Ménard

Roger Ménard, o.m.i., Gisèle Desjardins and Sister Claire Ménard, s.g.m., (to the right) during a celebration at Accueil Bonneau, undated. Grey Nuns of Montréal’s Archives, Accueil Bonneau’s Fonds, L035-J-1-1-31-54

”Sister Claire Ménard? She is a five-star cook. According to Sister Nicole Fournier, Director of the Accueil Bonneau (1986-2006): ’She could make anything she touched taste good’. A volunteer declares: ‘An outstanding cook and tireless worker, she prepared large pots of food for the people.’”

Obituary of Sister Claire Ménard, s.g.m.(excerpt).
Grey Nuns of Montréal’s Archives, Personal File of Sister Claire Ménard