Celebration of life to honour founder of French immersion program at Université Sainte-Anne

Natalie Robichaud remembers how Jean-Douglas Comeau would involve the entire community in his efforts to help students succeed in the renowned French immersion program he founded at Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, N.S.

"He would go out and talk to the businesses and say if my students come to shop here, do not give them service in English," Robichaud told CBC Radio's Information Morning Halifax host Portia Clark on Thursday, sharing stories about her friend's life.

Comeau died on April 27. He was 79. A celebration of his life will take place Saturday in Clare at Le Richelieu, an event venue he once owned.

Robichaud said she got to know Comeau in the early 2000s when his son played bass guitar in a band she belonged to. She said Comeau often travelled with them, which included frequent trips to France.

He later hired Robichaud to work as a teacher in the immersion program at Université Sainte-Anne.

She said his program worked because of its different approach. Rather than simply sitting in a classroom taking notes, it was about "creating occasions to use it," she said. 

"So you know, the morning … you have a few classes and then in the afternoon you have workshops and then evenings were, every single evening of immersion was like a theme party or, you know, games or so."

According to his obituary, Comeau grew up in Bear Cove, an Acadian village on the French Shore, and studied at Collège Ste-Anne, earning his bachelor of arts degree at the forerunner of Université Sainte-Anne. He then travelled to Paris and later Vermont to continue his studies.

Teaching offer came with a catch

When he returned to Nova Scotia, his cousin, the rector of Université Sainte-Anne, offered him a teaching position, the obituary said. But the offer came with the requirement that he had to "establish a proper French immersion school, oversee the installation of a new language laboratory, and create a theater company: Les Araignées du Boui-Boui."

Comeau maintained an office at the university even after his retirement in 2017, when he was appointed honorary dean, and "you would still see him many, many times a year on campus," said Robichaud.

During his time studying in France, he played baseball for the French national team, his obituary said.

Robichaud said Comeau loved softball and baseball, noting the university staged an annual tournament that he would play in or watch and cheer players on.

In 2018, France honoured Comeau's work and career by awarding him the rank of knight in the Ordre des Palmes académiques, his obituary said.

While he was most recognized for his role at Université Sainte-Anne, Comeau was a driving force behind a thriving theatre scene back in the day in Clare, Robichaud said.

He joined Mermaid Theatre in Wolfville as an actor, said his obituary, which also noted he "produced more than 39 television shows, as an actor, for the Nova Scotia Department of Education, in the Radio-Canada studios in Halifax."

"So he really had not only for the French language, but for the arts and culture in general, had a really big passion for that," Robichaud said.

The location for Saturday's celebration of Comeau's life is appropriate, she said, because it is taking place at a former social club he purchased in the early 2000s and operated as a community space that people could rent to host events.