Deserted Ste. Elizabeth building revived – Article from the Winnipeg Free Press, August 21, 2003

Perhaps it was divine intervention that brought Gabriel Collette to a deserted church in Ste. Elizabeth one year ago.

" Happened to be going to my great-uncle's funeral one day," he recalled. "Maybe he (my great-uncle) was sitting there with me because something told me I had to stop by. And when I saw the "For Sale" sign, I knew what I had to do."

Collette and a volunteer group of former parishioners have purchased and restored the old Catholic church in Ste. Elizabeth, six kilometers east of Morris.

And after being deserted for over a decade, the church will have a special mass on Sunday.

It's part of what Collette hopes will become an annual homecoming for former residents of this village, now a ghost town..

"I'm sure there'll be more traffic than this town's ever seen," he said.

Collette's late great-uncle was one of several of his ancestors to have roots in Ste. Elizabeh. But Collette, a resident of St. Malo said he did not know much about his family's connections to Ste. Elizabeth until later in life.

"When I was younger, I didn't ask too many questions," said Collette, now 44. "But when I grew older I wanted to know."

The original church, built in 1903, burned to the ground in 1951. The current building – made with bricks and mortar, just in case – was built later that year.

The Catholic Church was an important part of the small community. Ste. Elizabeth was founded in the 1890s, when French settlers gathered together for mass.

Raymond and Madeleine Dupuis are among a handful of residents still living near Ste. Elizabeth today. They've called it home since 1952, back when the thriving village boasted a population of around 200 people. "Sainte-Liz," as it was called, was not just a francophone community – it was also home for Mennonite and English families. But in the 1960s, village schools consolidated and children were sent to larger towns. Entire families moved away. The last business, the local garage, closed in 1972.

The church parish carried on but eventually it also dwindled. In 1992, it held its last services.

A Niverville resident purchased the building from the Archdiocese of Sain-Boniface for private use. Raymond Dupuis continued to care for the nearby cemetery, where his family and other community ancestors are buried. Then last August, Gabriel Collette and the Archdiocese bought back the church. Over the years, it had become unkempt; it was also flooded in 1997. Last September, the newly formed Ste. Elizabeth Historical Committee cleaned up and restored the church. The committee has also been fundraising the $12,000 price tag for the building. Collette and Dupuis said the committee would maintain the church as a museum year-round. The building is unlocked, and visitors are free to wander in and sign its guestbook.Sunday's mass will start at 11 a.m., and will be followed by a family picnic. Attendees should bring their own picnic lunch and lawn chairs."We really want the grandparents to bring their kids, so they can learn about where they're from," added Collette. "We're glad there's an older generation around to tell their stories."