Francis Blouin

Brother Francis (Regis) Blouin of the Brothers of Christian Instruction died January 21, 2017 in St. Andre's Care Center in Biddeford, ME. Brother Francis was born in Rumford, ME on Feb.9, 1929, of Raoul and Marie (LeBlanc) Blouin in a family of 7 children. Br. Blouin began his religious life in August 1942 in joining the Brothers' prep school in Alfred, ME. He credits his friend Orean Champagne who suggested this move. He pronounced first vows upon completing his novitiate year in La Prairie, QC, in 1947 and perpetual vows in 1952. In August, 2016, his 70 years as a religious was celebrated. In 2016 the addition to Henry Hall (chapel/dining facility) built to house handicapped Brothers in Alfred was named Francis Hall.His formal education which began in the parochial school in Rumford, includes his high school years at the Brothers' formation center in Alfred, ME, a bachelor's degree in history from La Mennais College (also in Alfred), a master's degree '56 in European history from the Catholic University of America (DC), doctoral studies in theology '84 at Fordham University (NY) and post-graduate studies at Notre Dame University, the University of Detroit and Highlands College, Jersey Is, EnglandHis long career as a very successful educator began in 1949 in Fall River, MA followed by a year as principal of St. Ignatius HS in Sanford, ME. In 1954 he was assigned to Mt. Assumption Institute in Plattsburgh, NY, becoming its principal in 1963. Here his tact and good judgment, drive and energy stimulated faculty and students bringing greater recognition to the school. Br. Francis was always a firm believer in academic excellence while enhancing the human and Christian tone of the student body.Brother Francis was named province superior in 1970 with headquarters in Alfred, ME. He embraced his new duties wholeheartedly and left no stone unturned to spur the Brothers to deeper levels of prayer and religious commitment. Genuinely interested in each one of his Brothers, their religious growth was his prime concern. Challenging them to develop a greater appreciation of their vocation, he organized summer workshops, retreat programs, renewal sessions that helped enrich the participants' lives. He served as a consultant to the Brothers in Haiti and in Tanzania.During those six years he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Walsh College, secretary-treasurer of the New England Conference of Major Superiors for three years, and member of the Board of Directors of Sangre de Cristo Renewal Center (Santa Fe, NM). In 1973 he was chosen to represent all New England provincials at the Second Inter-American Conference of religious superiors held in Bogota, Columbia. His position paper "Awareness" was reprinted in Origins. He was listed in the Dictionary of International Biography (1974), Men of Achievement (1975 and 1979), and Who's Who in Religion (1973).In January, 1978 he became the 3rd president of Walsh College (now University) in Canton, OH. For fourteen and a half years of never-ending succession of meetings, discussions, planning sessions and speeches he impressed everyone by his hard work, his closeness to faculty, staff and students, and his sympathetic responsiveness to the needs of the campus community. His presidency witnessed a period of unprecedented growth, stability and maturity for the College. During his tenure Walsh introduced a graduate program (1981) and a nursing program (1982) and committed an increasing amount of College funds to supplement financial aid packages for students. A true Brother of Christian Instruction, Br. Francis aligned the school's mission - to provide a values-based education based on the democratic principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition - with the Congregation's 200 year old education mission. The sound of the cheerful bells atop the 49-foot-high elegant landmark library tower - one of his many contributions which also includes the Hannon Child Development Center - serve as a daily reminder of his notable achievements.Among his cherished moments at Walsh, the visit of Mother Teresa in 1982 left an indelible impression on the president's mind as well as on all who welcomed her. Three other Nobel Peace Prize recipients were brought on campus: Willy Brandt, Adolfo Perez Esquievel and Eli Wiesel. In 1989 he was granted life membership in the Jewish Chautauqua Society. In 1991 Brother Francis, always active in Christian dialogue with members of the Jewish community, was the recipient of the State of Israel Peace Medal for "being committed to the well-being of the State of Israel and to strengthening interfaith understanding and cooperation." Very appropriately he received the degree of Doctor of Humane Services from Walsh when he left the school in 1992. In 2012 Walsh University recognized his servant leadership and global service by awarding him its Founders' Award. In 2014 Walsh inaugurated the Br. Blouin Global Scholars Program enabling faculty and students to employ scholarship and service to address major global issues such as world hunger, global health and armed conflicts. Upon retiring from that position in 1993 Br. Francis returned to Maine to serve for three years as Diocesan Vicar for Religious serving on many diocesan committees. In 1994 he was appointed for a second term as Provincial Superior. Upon completing this 6-year term he remained in Maine engaged with York County Shelter housed on the Brother's Alfred campus. He presided over the Coalition to End Homelessness, served on the Board of Trustees of St. Joseph College (ME) and participated in the Maine Council of Churches who presented him with their Ecumenical Achievement Award in Nov., 1998, for his work on Jewish-Christian relations. His ecumenical work reflected his concept of the church universal which embraced the whole inhabited earth.Brother Francis has traveled extensively in North and South America, western Europe, Russia, eastern Africa and the Middle East as religious superior, as delegate to a number of organization-sponsored conferences and during two sabbatical years (1962 and 1977). He was the American representative four times at the General Chapter of the Congregation held every 6 years.He has contributed articles on prayer, faith, the charismatic movement and religious life for the Maine diocesan weekly THE CHURCH WORLD (for which he wrote an award winning series about the roots of anti-Semitism particularly within the Roman Catholic Church), the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, the quarterly journal SPIRITUAL LIFE and CONSULATIONS of the Canadian Religious Conference. He has published a Bible textbook, edited Br. Edmund Drouin's definitive biography the Brothers' founder, Fr. John Mary de La Mennais and in 2013 issued his autobiography CALLED BY NAME: ISAIAH 34: 1-7. His PhD thesis work was on Felecite Lamennais, the brother of Fr. John.In 2004 he came out of semi-retirement to direct the newly established Kisubi Brothers University in Uganda. For eight years he administered this institution with his characteristic unstinting dedication, remarkable competence and an extra-ordinary sensitivity to human needs. Through effective fundraising he saw to the construction of some 7 magnificent buildings and the renovation of older structures. He developed the university's academic courses in affiliation with Walsh University (OH). On February 6, 2012, the Brother Francis Blouin Academic Centre of KBU was formally dedicated in his honor.In 2011, at the age of 82 his life having become "complicated", he returned to the US for medical attention to learn that his health issues were the beginning of ALS (Lou Gehrig 's disease). While in Alfred, he continued his writing which included biographical sketches of the Brothers commemorated in the Brothers' Cemetery on the Notre Dame campus in Alfred, complementing Br. Patrick Menard's WE REMEMBER (1988). In December 2015, having reached the stage where he required greater attention, he became a resident of St. Andre's Care Center in Biddeford, ME (15 miles from Alfred). At Thanksgiving time he expressed in a letter his gratitude for the help and support he received from the devoted staff of St. Andre's. He also greatly appreciated the assistance and consolation offered by Compassus Hospice.In spite of all his activities, Br. Francis always had time for people and even in his final sickness he continued to welcome and cheer his visitors, family and friends. Fortunately he knew how to relax, read newspapers, journals and books, listen to classical music, view international news, play chess and cards (especially bridge). In all he did and wanting "to live until he died", Br. Francis demonstrated a spirit of joy, wisdom, humility and practicality. To his closing days he would testify that he enjoyed every task he was ask to undertake. And if he had the opportunity to start all over again, he could not think of anything he would rather have done than be a teacher in a religious community. A favorite quote summarizes his philosophy: As long as we love each other, we can die without ever really going away because all the love we create is still there; all our memories are still there. We live on in the hearts of everyone we have touched and nurtured (TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE - Mitch Albom). His was a life inspired by the Gospel of Jesus. "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord."He was predeceased by his brothers Louis and Jean Paul and a sister Alice Theriault. He will be greatly missed by his grateful confreres among the Brothers of Christian Instruction in the US, Canada and Uganda and his surviving siblings, sisters Rita Brodeur and Gloria Bernard of Maine and Raymonde Blouin in RI and by many nieces and nephews.At his request, Br. Francis's body was given to the College of Osteopathic Medicine's Anatomical Donor Program of the Univ. of New England, Biddeford, ME. A memorial service is scheduled for 4:00 Monday, Jan. 30 at the Notre Dame Chapel on the Brother's campus in Alfred, ME. His cremains will eventually be buried in the Brothers' cemetery in Alfred. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the KBU's Blouin Scholarship Program c/o Br. Daniel Caron, PO Box 159, Alfred, ME 04002.