Sœur Marie Charlotte LEDUC

List of Deceased Sisters

Date of Death 09/04/2022

   Born: 31 December. 1928

   Professed: 8 September, 1954

   Died: 8, April 2022

Sister Marie Charlotte was born on December 31, 1928, December 31, 1928 – April 8, 2022 in Nort-sur-Erdre in the department of Loire-Atlantique, third daughter of the family. She was baptized on January 1.

During the war, her father was a resistance fighter and hid in Paris. He returned home sick to Nort and died in 1940. Her mother was a member of a network of resistance fighters "the Confraternity of Our Lady of Castille". She was arrested by the Germans and was on trial in Paris for three days, with all the people in her network. The men were beheaded, the women sent to a concentration camp in Germany in October 1941. Her older sister Thérèse was also arrested and imprisoned in Paris as a minor. S.M. Charlotte and her sister Maxi were taken in by their grandparents. For a long time, there was no news...  They were both entrusted to the boarding school of the Soeurs de la Retraite. Their mother was released four years later. Aged 35 at the time of the arrest, she looked like an old woman when she returned, and her children did not recognize her.

S M Charlotte always had a great affection for her grandmother. It was she who taught her to pray. It is thanks to the kindness of this grandmother that she was able to get through these difficult years. She arrived at the postulate at 41 chemin du Signal on March 10, 1952. She made her first religious profession there on September 8, 1954. She made her perpetual vows on September 8, 1960, in the New Hebrides.

After her profession, she immediately began her nursing studies at Saint Joseph's Hospital. After graduating, she was sent to the New Hebrides where she arrived in December 1956 to work at the French hospital in Port Vila. The following year she was appointed to the hospital of Lamap on the island of Mallicolo and in 1959 she left for the hospital of Santo where she remained ten years before being elected for the Provincial Chapter held in New Caledonia; she was then chosen to participate in the General Chapter in Rome. After a short home visit in France, she returned to the hospital of Port Vila in 1971.

During her stay at the hospital in Santo, she took special care of sick Japanese fishery employees whose living conditions were very difficult. When one of these patients died, his ashes would be repatriated to Japan to be handed over to his family. The Japanese of Santo demanded that it was S.M. Charlotte who looked after this, recognizing her friendship with them.

In 1972, she returned to France for the Second Novitiate and a thirty-day retreat in Paray le Monial.

She was a very good nurse, and seeing the great health needs in the islands, she asked to train in prevention work. She obtained a scholarship from the O.M.S. and went to Montreal. As part of her studies, she traveled to the Philippines, Laos and Fiji.

On her return to the New Hebrides, she first went to Tanna for a few months for the continuing education of the nurses. She then returned to the hospital in Port Vila. She lived two years on site outside the community while continuing her work.

In April 1977, she returned to France for her home visit and was then appointed to Senegal, to the Dispensary of Pikine. In June 1980 she returned to Vanuatu, this time on the island of Vao.

In October 1981, her mother being ill, she returned to France to look after her. After her mother’s death in November 1983, she went to Algeria, to El Biar, for the study of Arabic. She stayed there for seven months and then went to Mauritania to the dispensary at Rosso. This was really very difficult for her, and after two months she returned to the Pikine dispensary to replace the nurse there until December 1985.

New Caledonia was looking for a sister to be a presence with the patients evacuated to Australia for care. Sr M. Charlotte was chosen, and had to wait for her visa in France. By the end of 1986, she was in Sydney, integrated into the chaplaincy team.

She loved this apostolate, visiting the hospitalized patients, from New Caledonia but also from Tahiti and Vanuatu, not to mention those who stayed at the boarding house, welcoming the convalescent patients or families. She made strong friendships and served many people. S. Janice RUFF writes:

"Charlotte was a vibrant and beloved sister in Sydney's communities. Her kindness and compassion for the people she cared for in Sydney's various hospitals did not go unnoticed and many doctors spoke of her with admiration. In one hospital, she was nicknamed "our flying sister" because she was always on the move and available to French-speaking patients. We missed her presence and her resounding "Hello!" when she returned to France but we remember a dedicated and wonderful SMSM who never put herself forward but served with simplicity and humility in the context of her work”.

S. Margaret TISCH adds, "S.M. Charlotte was a hard worker, with a wonderful sense of humour, enjoying life to the fullest and being pleasant to live with. [...] »

In 1995, she received the medal of the Order of Merit of the French government.

In 2004, she returned to France where she took charge of the infirmary of the house of Ste Foy then she went to La Fare-les-Oliviers in December 2005 for an active retirement. Unfortunately, a car accident stopped her in her tracks. Later, following a serious health problem, she returned to ‘41’ in September 2009. She replaced the nurse when she was absent, and often went to Brittany to take care of her sister Maxi. This stage was difficult for her who loved human contact so much.

Sister M. Charlotte had a great devotion to the Eucharist. That is why she chose the name Charles de Foucauld. She loved Mary very much and her rosary did not leave her during her illness. Her forthright manner, her dynamic and strong personality with her exclamations of anger or joy made her a very open sister, free, and faithful in her friendships.

After a short stay in hospital, she returned to the community, waiting with great faith for the hour of the encounter with her Lord. She passed away on Saturday, April 9, while Sr Male and Sr Michèle were with her. We celebrated her funeral on Holy Wednesday, April 13. Fr. Roger LORDONG, sm, after the Eucharist, accompanied us to the cemetery. One of her friends and son were present but no one from her family was able to come. Fortunately, her niece and husband had the joy of coming to visit her when she was discharged from the hospital.

She joined her Lord whom she served and loved all her life. May Mary welcome her together with all those who preceded her.

St. Marie Charlotte leaves a great void in the community. We already miss her bursts of laughter. But we will keep the memory of her deep faith, her great generosity and her sisterly affection towards each one.

The Sisters of "41".