COUDERT, JEAN-LOUIS, PREMIER EVEQUE RESIDANT DE WHITEHORSE:
COUDERT, MGR JEAN-MARIE (364 - ENGLISH)
First Resident Bishop of Whitehorse
Jean-Louis Coudert, son of Jean Coudert and of Marguerite Chabanet, was born on August 9, 1895 in Ménat (Clermont diocese) in France. In 1914, he immigrated to the United States and the following year, he entered the order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He was ordained a priest in San Antonio, Texas, US. Cardinal Villeneuve named him vicar-assistant of the district of the Yukon and of Prince Rupert in 1936.
In 1944, he became the first Roman Catholic Bishop to reside in Whitehorse. He worked in the North for 45 years before being named to a position in the Vatican in Rome.
Bishop Coudert died on November 14, 1965 during the last session of the Second Council of the Vatican. His body was brought back to Whitehorse where he was buried.
A small mountain situated north-east of Lake Kusawa was named in his honor.
NOTE; At the beginning of August 1950, dad, mom, my sister and I werer on a trip on the Alaska highway. One Sunday morning, we were in front of the church in Watson Lake and we were waiting to see if there would be a mass. Bishop Coudert had noticed us and came to greet us and said that the time for mass had already passed, but that the Indians have a different time schedule so we take them when they come. Here we live according to “Indian Time”; they may not arrive before one more hour so I’ll say a mass for you now, and for them later.
This happened in Watson Lake Yukon in the Canadian West. The following Christmas, Bishop Coudert sent us a Christmas card with his wishes and his photo.
During the construction of the Alaska Highway some soldiers had started to write their names and their place of origin and nailed these on a post. This was in 1942. Today there are thousands of names and places of origin on this post and it is worth seeing.
Ref. Empreinte, vol. 11, pages 111-112
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