Imelda DOIRON

Born on Jan 4, 1923, her given name at birth was Imelda (no middle name).  Growing up within this large family she moved away to Miscouche PEI to go to school under the tutelage of family member Sister Lucie, who resided at and was a teacher at the Catholic Convent School located here. Sister Lucie later became known as Mother St. John and headed up the Convent School for many years. During this time Imelda made the decision to become a nun of the Catholic faith and proceeded to move to Montreal to further her studies and pursue this noble calling. She returned home later to take her place teaching on PEI - in those days you had to be tested for tuberculosis before working in the education system. That is how she found out she had the disease. She returned to the Doiron farm where her parents cared for her until her passing on the morning of Sunday, August 19, 1945 at the age of 22. This was the same year that her brother John Leo came home from the war.

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The History of Miscouche Convent School:  Belle Alliance, later known as Miscouche, in Lot 17, west of Summerside, Prince Edward Island was first settled in 1817. The Miscouche Convent built in 1864 by Father Joseph Quevillon was one of the first convents in an Acadian parish in the Atlantic region. The Convent was later turned over to the Bishop of Charlottetown, Bishop Peter McIntyre, who sent for three sisters from the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal who began teaching classes on 14 September 1864 with an enrollment of 50 girls. Students in the area had been receiving French instruction since the 1830's. An amendment to the School Act in 1854 required teachers to provide English instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic. The Convent School was not restricted to Acadians and took in some resident pupils. It relied solely on public support and tuition fees. By 1904, the school was opened to the public and in 1922, students of the boys' school were transferred to the Convent School. In 1937 the Miscouche Convent school was still under the direction of the sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame as were the convent schools in Tignish and Rustico. It appears that the school later was know as Miscouche School No. 66 under the direction of the provincial Department of Education.