On July 15, 2021, at the Residence Notre-Dame de Richelieu (Quebec), died at the age of 91, after 69 years of religious life with the Jesuits, Father Jean GOBEIL S.J. He was the son of the late Mr. Jean-Charles Gobeil and the late Mrs. Raymonde Bergeron. Jean was born in Chicoutimi (Quebec) on January 4, 1930. He did his classical studies (high school and college) at the Chicoutimi Seminary. After his novitiate and a year of juvenile studies, he did a year of regency at Saint-Ignace College in Montreal, where he taught mathematics. He then studied philosophy from 1955 to 1957 at Regis College in Toronto. He then did two more years of regency at St. Ignatius College before continuing his theological studies at the Scholasticate of the Immaculate Conception in Montreal (1959-1963). He was ordained to the priesthood on June 21, 1962 in the Church of the Immaculate Conception by Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger, Archbishop of Montreal. Before his third year, which he did in Belgium in 1965-66, he taught religious studies for two years at the University of Sudbury. Throughout his formation, Jean attended summer courses: first in mathematics (at the University of Montreal and at Columbia University, USA) and, after his theology, he studied ecclesiology and biblical studies at the University of San Francisco. Jean expanded his knowledge and understanding of First Nations cultures both here in Canada in British Columbia and among the Maya of Yucatan, Mexico. His study trips to Israel and Greece allowed him to discover the ancient and biblical world.
Jean was a studious man of great intellectual curiosity. He stayed in Belgium for a year after his third year to take courses in religious psychology and ecumenism at the University of Louvain. At the University of Sudbury, he was successively Dean of Students (1963-1965), Director of the Residence for Students (1967-1973), member of the Board of Trustees (1967-1984) and of the Library Committee (1970-1985), Director of the Department of Religious Studies, representative of Religious Studies to the Senate (1975-1978) and member of the Board of Regents (1984 to 1996). From 1996 to 2005, he supervised correspondence courses as needed by the department. On the occasion of receiving his Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the University of Sudbury, he said, “The interesting thing about the pursuit of knowledge is that there is never an end or a conclusion. Once we are engaged in this field, we are guaranteed that there will always be new things before us, things worthy of our research and our work because they are things worthy of our wonder and our admiration.”
After his retirement, Father Gobeil resided at Villa Loyola until 2020. He held a number of positions there, including those responsible for spiritual activities. Since February 2020, he has been living at the Residence Notre-Dame de Richelieu (Quebec), due to his health problems. In addition to family members, he is survived by his fellow Jesuits, friends and many acquaintances in the Sudbury area. Funeral services will be held on August 10, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Anne of the Pines Church in Sudbury. The viewing of the funeral is possible on the web: https://youtu.be/dGf7x7gCe78You may pay tribute to Father Gobeil SJ by making a donation to Villa Loyola for the Spiritual Activities Fund. For more information, contact Villa Loyola at (705) 522-3502.
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