Fournier, Marguerite (1919-2000)

“Margo” Fournier devoted her life to fostering the musical and athletic talents of many generations of Prince Albert's youth. Born Marguerite Helen Leblond on August 16, 1919, she grew up in Rosthern and Prince Albert. An accomplished singer and dancer, she joined the RCAF as an entertainer during World War II, touring bases in Canada, Britain, and continental Europe. She married Prince Albert's L.J. “Pluke” Fournier, of the Canadian Auxiliary Corps, in Glasgow, Scotland, on May 5, 1945, and the couple raised a family of seven. Margo Fournier became known as a take-charge music teacher and conductor of boys and girls, student nurses, church and local penitentiary inmates' choirs. As well, she founded the local Music Festival Association and, in the early 1960s, helped organize and was president of the local Jeunesses Musicales group. In September 1965, she was named to the Saskatchewan Youth Review Committee. She was best known as the founder and director of the Prince Albert Boys' Choir, which received national and international recognition. With her husband's guidance, she also taught and coached swimming and diving. A local multi-purpose recreation centre was named after her. In 1983 she was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. She died on July 22, 2000.

Richard Lapointe