Educator, community activist.
Born at Morris on 8 December 1940, son of Alphonse Loiselle (1911-2004) and Anne-Marie Comeault (?-1982), he lived at Letellier for a year before his family relocated to Transcona in 1942 then to St. Boniface in 1949. After training, he became a schoolteacher. He taught at École Précieux-Sang, Collège Louis Riel, and Collège secondaire de Saint-Boniface before being Assistant Director of the Centre de services scolaire de Saint-Boniface for nearly 10 years. He was a staff member in the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (1982-1999).
On 15 April 1963, he married schoolteacher Lucienne Beaudry (1942-2023) at the St. Boniface Cathedral and they subsequently had three sons. Active in the Francophone community, he was part of a group that advocated for the establishment of the St. Boniface Cultural Centre in 1966. It became the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre in 1974 and he served it as President. He was also a founding member of Folklorama and was coordinator of the first French-Canadian Pavilion, general manager of the Red River Folk Ensemble, an official voyageur at the Fesetival du Voyageur, a founding member of the Order of Official Voyageurs, President of the Manitoba Scouts Association, co-founder of Folklore Canada International (President, 20 years), President of the Canadian Chapter of the International Council of Folklore Festivals and Traditional Arts Organizations, and a North American representative on its board of directors. He was President of the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française, President of the Association des résidents du nord de Saint-Boniface, and a board member of Habitat Chez-soi. In recognition of his community service, he received a Prix Riel (1997).
He died at Winnipeg on 14 March 2026.
Birth registration [Joseph Alphonse Loiselle], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Alphonse Loiselle], Winnipeg Free Press, 12 August 2004.
Obituary [Lucienne Beaudry-Loiselle], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 February 2023.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 21 March 2026.
This page was prepared by Rick Mutton.
Page revised: 21 March 2026
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