Rev. Joseph Vaillancourt OMI

Rev. Joseph Vaillancourt, OMI, 91, died suddenly on Friday, August 10, 2012, at Saints Memorial Hospital, Lowell, Massachusetts. He was born on August 30, 1920, in Sainte-Agathe-de-Lotbinière, Québec, Canada, to Odule and Desneiges (Routhier) Vaillancourt. He was the last of eight children. In addition to his parents, Fr. Vaillancourt was predeceased by his four sisters, Rose Finnegan, Adrienne Asselin, Sr. Marie-Laure Vaillancourt (Grey Nuns), Sr. Priscilla Vaillancourt (Grey Nuns), and his three brothers, Robert, Leo and Oliver. When he was six years old, Fr. Vaillancourt's family moved to Berlin, New Hampshire, where he was raised and educated. He entered the Oblate Seminary in Colebrook, New Hampshire, in September, 1935. He professed his first vows on August 2, 1941, and was ordained to the priesthood on September 21, 1946, by Auxiliary Bishop Luis F. Kelleher at St. Clement Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Fr.Vaillancourt was assigned to the minor seminary in Bucksport, Maine, in 1948, and was appointed superior in 1954. In 1960 he became the superior and novice master at the Oblate Novitiate in Colebrook. In 1964 he was assigned to the position of superior at the major seminary in Natick, Massachusetts, and was the director of theologians at the Oblate Residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1968 to 1970. Fr. Vaillancourt volunteered in 1970 for the missions in Haiti, where he served for the last 42 years. He ministered at Ste. Jeanne de Chantal Parish in Chantal, at Sacred Heart Parish in Cap Haïtien and St. Eugene Parish in Les Cayes. He was also the superior at the minor seminary at Camp Perrin for six years. Most recently he was assigned to the mission office in Les Cayes.