Sister Yolande Dufresne

On March 22, 2025, at the Maison Jésus-Marie infirmary,

Sister Yolande Dufresne (Sister Marguerite-de-l’Assomption)

went home to God.

She was 95 years old, with 72 years of religious profession.

Yolande, the sixth of the seven children of Jean-Marius Dufresne and Eugénie Savoie, was born in Plessisville, now Megantic, on December 20, 1929. Her father worked for the Provincial Bank of Canada, so the family moved, first to Papineauville, and then to Montréal. “I became a Montrealer at the age of six,” she said.

Yolande began her schooling at Villa Saint-Joseph where she met the Sisters of the Heart of Mary whom she admired and whose spirituality inspired her. Yolande went to High School with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM) at Mount Royal Boarding School. She joined the Confraternity of Mary and the Girl Guides.  Later, she entered the SNJM congregation, on July 24, 1950.

Through the years, Sister Yolande exercised several ministries: first as a classroom teacher, then as a professor in adult education, giving sessions at the Centre Saint-Pierre-Apôtre in Montréal.

After obtaining a Master’s degree in Canon Law from Saint Paul University in Ottawa, she served as a canon lawyer and consultant for the diocese of Montreal and for the Maronite tribunal of Canada. To her, those 18 years were an opportunity to “liberate people wounded by painful experiences”. 

Yolande was a gifted, creative and apostolic woman who participated actively in the life of the Church and of her Congregation through various commitments: committees, animation, provincial and general chapters, communications, etc.                 

The day will come, Lord,

when I will stand in awe

      in your presence. (Ps. 17)