Nothing was impossible for him as we can see in our village. One day he mentioned he was going to get a big gym for the village. He approached both councils and the government and we had our gym. His next project was the swimming pool and also was a success. Other projects such as a building where visiting athletes could be housed and a track where students and others could train are still to be realized. He always tried to find ways to help students in sports such as a hockey program, uniforms for the gym students and many other things.
When things did not work out he never gave up trying to do for the students and the community. As one of the Cree teachers mentioned André saying to her, “If you like your job, don’t complain. If you need something to be done, do it. Don’t expect payment or praise, just do it.” That seemed to be his philosophy as we can see in our village.
Would we have a triple gym and swimming pool if André had not been living here with us? I have not seen any other person who was not born in the community to work that hard for our community. Didn’t Jesus say that you will be known by your works? In other words, we could see by his works and attitude what kind of man he was.
Another colleague mentioned that André only said things that would make people laugh or smile. He never gave anyone grief. He had good cooperation from the students. There are times he would take two classes at the same time when we are desperate for subs. We would tell him, “You know you are not going get paid extra for this,” and he would say, “I know, I know, that is okay.”
He teased and joked in a positive way to everyone. He would say to some of the students, “Hi, son,” and they would respond, “Hi, Daddy,” and he got a kick out of that. Sometimes whole classes of lower elementary students would greet him in unison as “daddy, daddy” as they hugged him around his legs. Everyone who saw that would smile or have a good laugh at the sight. He certainly got a great joy out of that.
In reflection, we can never thank his family enough, especially Madeline and Scott, for unselfishly letting us share more of his life with us than they were able to. There are no words for the gratitude and empathy we feel for them. We, his family, are truly blessed to have had him in our lives.
André has left a great void in our lives and in the community. He will not be easily replaced. He will be remembered as a good friend, a supportive colleague, daddy, teacher, valuable community member and an excellent child of God.
André Luc Morin suffered a heart attack while teaching a class in the gymnasium of the Badabin Eeyou School sometime between 11:00 and 11:30 am on Tuesday, January 6. Morin was brought to the local clinic where he passed away. He had taught for both the Inuit at the Asimautaq School in Kuujuarapik and the Cree at the Badabin Eeyou School in Whapmagoostui.
