Sr. Jean Mongeau

Sister Jean Mongeau csj
(Sister Simone)
May 6, 1938 – April 7, 2026

 “You did not choose me, but I chose you… to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”
                                (John 15:16)

On May 6, 1938, Jean Mongeau was born into a family rooted in love and faith, a quiet soil in which the seeds of her vocation were first sown. Her parents, Arthur and Simone (Courtemanche), welcomed her as the fourth of six children, nurturing in her a heart attentive to God and tender toward others. She was predeceased by her sister Rita Gerguson (Ray), and is lovingly remembered by Lynn Mongeau, Ray (Pat), Ron (Sherry), and Pat Green (Gary).

Jean grew up in the small northern town of Gowganda, where the vastness of the land and the simplicity of life seemed already to echo the spaciousness of her soul. With no Catholic secondary school nearby, she came to St. Joseph’s College and Boarding School in North Bay. It was there, in the gentle and faithful witness of The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, that she first heard, deep within her heart, the quiet and persistent voice of God calling her by name. That call did not pass. It claimed her.

In her own words, written as she prepared for final vows in 1965, Jean revealed the deepest truth of her life: “Ever since I entered, I always did want to belong entirely to God.”

This was the single thread that wove through all her years, not as a passing desire, but as a lifelong surrender, a steady offering of herself into the hands of the One who had first called her. Jean did not seek to possess her life. She sought to give it away, and in that giving, she found its meaning.
Her ministry began in the classroom, teaching young children in Sudbury, and later in Nassau, Bahamas. It was there, among a people she came to love deeply, that her missionary heart was set ablaze. For more than three decades, she served as spiritual director, parish administrator, and Director of the Emmaus Retreat Centre, accompanying countless lives with a presence that was at once gentle and deeply rooted in God. “The love of Christ impels us.” (2 Corinthians 5:14) This love was not abstract for Jean. Through her ministry in the Bahamas, it was the fire within her, drawing her always outward toward others and inward toward God. Leaving the Bahamas was a true letting go, yet Jean’s life had long been shaped by relinquishment. Again and again, she entrusted what she loved into God’s care, confident that nothing given to God is ever lost.

In Sudbury, she continued her ministry through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, offering prayers for healing and accompaniment to those who carried burdens too heavy to bear alone. Alongside Sister Bernadette Sammon, she entered the sacred ministry of inner healing, where grace works quietly, restoring what only God can restore.

As the years unfolded, Jean’s life became increasingly hidden in God. At St. Joseph’s Motherhouse in North Bay, her ministry deepened into one of prayerful presence. Each evening, with Sisters Bernadette Sammon and Mildred Connelly, she gathered the needs of the world into her heart and placed them before God as they prayed the rosary, entrusting all to the tender care of Our Lady.

What she had once quietly wondered, a contemplative life, had already taken root within her. Her apostolic life had become contemplative. Her action had become prayer. Her being had become offering.

On April 7, 2026, God gently called Jean home. This was not an end, but a fulfillment. “I have called you by name, you are mine… you are precious in my eyes, and I love you.” (Isaiah 43:1,4)

The longing that shaped her life reached its completion. Jean’s desire to belong entirely to God found its eternal resting place in Him. Jean has passed from the hiddenness of this life into the radiance of the communion of saints. United now with her family, faith companions such as Monsignor Raymond Farrell, and all the Sisters of St. Joseph who have gone before her, she stands within that great cloud of witnesses, where prayer is no longer an act of hope, but a participation in the very life of God. “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

The ministry that defined her life has not ended. It has been transfigured. From the courts of heaven, Jean continues her quiet work of intercession, holding before God the needs of the world she loved so deeply.

We will welcome Sister Jean home to the Holy Family Chapel at St. Joseph’s Motherhouse in North Bay on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., with a time of prayer and sharing of memories at 4:00 p.m. The Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at 11:00 a.m., with Msgr. Dennis Murphy presiding.

As we give thanks for Jean’s life, we entrust her to the promise she has now entered: “Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:23)

As we gather in gratitude to God for the gift of Jean’s life, we do not say goodbye. We commend her into the heart of God, where she has always longed to be. We entrust her to the fullness of life for which she was created, and we remain united with her in that communion which death cannot break.

May Sister Jean rest in the peace of Christ and may she now rejoice in the fullness of the One to whom she gave her life, entirely, and forever.
Donations in memory of Sister Jean can be made for the works of The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie - https://csjssm.ca/donate-now. 

May S. Jean rest in peace.