A well-loved teacher, councillor and community man from the Village of St. Pierre has passed away.

Luc Nadeau passed away suddenly earlier this week at the age of 57 and has left many in the community shocked. Nadeau moved to St. Pierre from New Brunswick in the late 1980s and began his teaching career at Ecole Communautaire Real Berard where he retired in 2016. Known by his students and many in the community as 'Monsieur Nadeau', he leaves behind a legacy that will not be forgotten.

Nadeau was a village councillor in St. Pierre for 20 years and recently put his name forward for mayor in the upcoming municipal elections. Mayor Mona Fallis says Nadeau was also the deputy mayor in her time as mayor and notes she often sought out his advice, and of course, he was always there to listen and lend a hand if he could. Fallis says she will miss him dearly as a colleague but most importantly as her friend.

"Everybody knew him," notes Fallis, whose sons both had Nadeau as a teacher. "Kids who have gone through the school system in the last 30 years know who Monsieur Nadeau is. He would give every kid a chance, encourage them and find ways for them to succeed. It will be a big hole to fill in our community because he was known from the youngest to the oldest of our community."

Maxine Morin, who is a teacher at ECRB, explains she taught alongside Nadeau for 22 years. Morin adds throughout Nadeau's roughly 30-year teaching career, he touched the lives of many, including the ones of her own children who knew him well. "My son and his friends said 'we're having tonight, we just want to be together and remember Monsieur Nadeau.' You've got older students, younger students, everybody loved him." Morin points out Nadeau knew when to be serious and had discipline but at the same time also knew how to have fun which he adds made him a well-rounded teacher.

Morin recalls Nadeau always having a smile on his face and had the ability to make people feel good simply with his jovial attitude. Monsieur Nadeau just couldn't leave the school behind so after his retirement in 2016, he came back the following two school years as a substitute which Morin says made for good laughs amongst staff. "He would sub all over the school. He was the secretary, he was the janitor, he was the teacher, he was just walking on a cloud all the time."

"He had St. Pierre-Jolys in his heart."

- Luc Lahaie

Being a teacher in the same school for over 30 years, Nadeau even got the chance to teach the children of some of his former students. That was the case for Luc Lahaie who says when he was in grade 7 when Nadeau first came to St. Pierre. Lahaie adds his two daughters were both taught by him noting Nadeau retired, or as he called it graduated, the same year as his youngest daughter. 

Luc Lahaie (left), Luc Nadeau and Brianna Lahaie (right) at Brianna's high school graduation in 2016. (Photo credit: Luc Lahaie)

Lahaie says Monsieur Nadeau just had a way of connecting with the students. "To all the kids that he taught, he was like the uncle to everybody. He didn't have any children so the kids that he taught, he kept lifelong relationships with them." Lahaie is quick to add Monsieur Nadeau will always be remembered for his kindness, patience, his infectious laugh, awesome storytelling abilities and of course his very bad dad jokes. Nadeau will also be remembered for organizing many trips to Europe over the years where he got the chance to tour students around multiple countries all while creating stronger bonds with them at the same time.

"The community of St. Pierre will surely miss him," adds Lahaie.

The Canadian flag near the cenotaph in St. Pierre was lowered to half mast on Tuesday to pay respect to the man who gave back so much to his community.