Dufresne, Étienne

Étienne Dufresne, S.J. was born on May 17, 1859 in St-Pie, Quebec, and following Classics studies at Collège St-Hyacinthe, joined the Society of Jesus on July 30, 1879. Father Dufresne completed his formation between Collège Sainte-Marie, Sault-au- Récollet, and the Holy Cross Mission in Wikwemikong, where he taught at the residential school for four years. He was ordained a priest on October 28, 1887.

Father Dufresne returned to Northern Ontario following his ordination. He would proceed to spend the next 63 years between Manitoulin Island, the East Shore of the Georgian Bay, Waubaushene and the French River, and the North Shore of Lake Huron from Sagamok to Garden River. In 1930, Father Dufresne relocated to the residential school in Spanish, Ontario where he worked at the local parish and nearby mission stations. In 1947, waning health inclined Father Dufresne to retire to the infirmary at Collège de l’Immaculée-Conception in Montreal. He died in 1950 after 70 years in the Society of Jesus.