Corinne Gignac, SNJM

Sister Corinne Gignac was born in Tecumseh, Ontario, and baptized one week later at Saint Anne’s Church a short distance from home. She was the fourth of ten children born to Jeanne Asselin and Lucien Gignac. In the summer of 1942, the family moved to Little River Road in Riverside, Ontario. She attended Sainte Cecile School where she completed grades 1 to 10 then went on to graduate from St. Mary’s Academy in Windsor in 1954. In July 1954, Corinne entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in Outremont, Quebec. She received the religious habit and her religious name Sister M. Jeanne Rachel in February 1955 and pronounced temporary vows in 1956. As a temporary professed, Corinne taught at Mount Carmel and St. John’s Schools in Windsor while pursuing her summer studies in Ottawa. She completed her teaching certification for French language schools at Ottawa University and obtained her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Windsor. Corinne continued her 28-year teaching career in the greater Windsor and Essex County region at Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, St. John, St. Francis, Sacred Heart, LaSalle, Abbé Lucien Beaudoin, and St. Edmond. A well-deserved sabbatical in Arnprior, Ontario, followed. In September 1985 Corinne began a period of 15 years as Pastoral Minister at Paroisse St-Jérôme in Windsor. Liturgy, Sacraments, school visits, visits to the elderly, were all a source of immense joy and lasting relationships. Shortly before her retirement in late 1999, Corinne and her companion Sister Thérèse Caron were charged with closing “le couvent St. Joseph in Rivière-aux-Canards” where they had lived and had been active community members in the parish for many years. Holy Names Residence on Peter Street would become their new home. Corinne was to experience another move when Holy Names Residence closed permanently in 2006, and all 18 Sisters accepted in faith a daring adventure of transition to Devonshire Retirement Residence. Some 20 years later Corinne continues to find happiness in creating new relationships and offering service as coordinator of liturgy, as driver, and as a welcoming SNJM to newcomers.