Cape Breton's Magazine

accident.... He was the last priest I kept house for. Well--after I left the house in Westmount. I'd be short times with others, just kind of filling in. But I didn't have a real place. So he came to lona as parish priest. And he had no housekeeper. He was a young fellow, just shortly out of the seminary. He was from Antigonish. Oh, he had been a helper here and there before then. And he was up in Bay St. Lawrence as parish priest before he came there. It was kind of a hard place, but it was only a small parish. So he was sent to lona. And he had no housekeeper. Priest that was there before him--he dropped dead, you know. The house? keeper that was with him wouldn't stay. She said she'd find it too hard. I can un- Ocean Jtentals'td. Lawn & Garden Equipment Tillers Sod Cutters Air Eators GLACE BAY General Engine Hoists Jacks Tow Bars 849-1616 & Much More... South (Campbells Comer) - P. O. Box 265 Employers Are Educators, Too! At U.C.C.B. Co-Operative Education Works It works for students. It works for you. derstand that. So it was in my home (lona Rear). So I said, "Okay, I'll go." And I couldn't leave home then, because my moth? er was getting very old, and troublesome, you know. And I could go in there by the day and come home at night. So that's what I did, I went with Fr. Chisholm. But eventually my mother died, and I was free. And he was down in New Aberdeen then--that was near Glace Bay there. So I stayed with him there, with Fr. Chisholm, all the time he was there. He was there for 8 years, I think it was. And then he was into Westmount. He was in there. So I came with him there, I lived in there. And we were there for a few years. And then he was into St. Peters.... And we were there just a year, when he went one day, he went on a visit down in--what month was it? I think it was July. We were only there a year, you know. He went down to visit the parish priest down there. Left in the morning, says, "I'll be back this evening." And this rain and wind and everything came up, and I was waiting for him to come home. Waiting. The next thing I knew, the telephone rang. They said there was an awful accident. He was coming over Kelly's Moun? tain. Truck coming to meet him. Crash. And he was killed instantly. Co-op employer benefits: • Reduced Hiring Risks • Reduced Recniitment and Training Costs • Higher Employee Retention • Students Available on a Year-Round Basis • Better Utilization of Personnel • You will work with U.C.C.B. to develop a highly trained work force, keeping our Technology Programs relevant to yowr needs. Information & possible funding: Funding Programs are now available to assist Nova Scotia employers who hire co-op students. Co-operative Education Department University College of Cape Breton P.O. Box 5300, Sydney, Nova Scotia B1P6L2 (902) 539-5300, Ext. 109, 350 Co-op Programs Include: Business Technology Computer Information Systems Management Paralegal Marketing Accounting Engineering Technology Civil/Construction Environmental Mechanical Electrical/Electronics. Chemical UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF CAPE BRETON That was--I didn't go with any? body else after that. I left St. Peters. I was only there a lit? tle over a year. But I was get? ting--! didn't want to go with anybody else. I could have stayed there. The priest that came there wanted me to stay. But, "No," I said, "I couldn't." Because I had been with him quite a number of years and I got used to his ways, and I didn't think I'd like to start in again. And he was a young priest, you know, he was just-- had been a curate, you know. And you felt more like caring for him and looking after him. So I came home, and I was home ever since. And my brother had We died, and my mother had died were just the two of us there (Mungie and Sadie). We had a cousin of ours who was left alone, a first cousin, lived near us. So we got him to come in and live with us, you know. So he was with us until about a year ago. It's a year since Joe died. That finished my work. But that was--what? How many years did I look after priests? Over 30