Marie Norbert Dapsance

List of Deceased Sisters

Date of Death 26/12/2010

Sr Marie Norbert Dapsance
(Yvette Emilie Dapsance)
26 December 1913 – 26 December 2010

Sr M. Norbert responded to the call of god for mission, with courage, throughout her life, up to the day of her meeting with the Lord.

The marist spirit was part of her life. She welcomed everyone she met with a beautiful smile. Her attitude of simplicity, discretion, and humility helped people to feel at ease with her.

Sr M Norbert was the second in a family of six children. She was born on December 26th 1913 at Langueil Ste Marie in l’Oise, France, daughter of Charles Dapsance and Gisele Lefevre.
In 1950, she was admitted to the novitiate and on September 8th 1952, and made her profession at Ste Foy-les-Lyon as a Missionary Sister of the Society of Mary.

After this first stage of formation, she was sent to Oceania. Without delay, she put her gifts for sewing at the service of the charity workshop at the mission at St Louis, New Caledonia. Later she was sent to Thio and in 1962 to L’ile des Pins where she worked with the young girls at CPV (life preparation course). She came back to this island several times.
She also obtained a certificate for first aid at the Red Cross in France, which helped her to teach both the theory and practice in the different schools to which she was sent.
In 1968, she was happy to leave for France after 16 years of mission to do her second novitiate, a renewal that she felt was important for a better apostolate.
On her return she was sent to Touaourou, then to Bélep, and in 1972 to Thabor, the novitiate, to help in the formation of the novices of the Petites Filles de Marie.

En 1981, she attended a program organized for the senior sisters at Mont Mou. Later she gave several years of service to the senior sisters at Notre Dame, St. Louis. In 1989, she would be in the hospitality community at Mont Mou. In 1994, she was sent to Bourail. In 1997, once again she was in St Louis. At the time she wrote: “being retired, I try to make myself useful to the community: maintenance, mending, sewing: content to give little services. My apostolate is prayer.”

In 2005, the community was transferred to Nazareth at Rivière Salée.
On December 18th and 19th Sr M. Norbert was at Mont Mou with all the sisters for the assembly with our superior general. It was only in the following week that she began feeling weaker, and on the day of her birthday December 26th, she passed away peacefully.

I would like to share with you what one of the sisters wrote about her in 1967: “Sr M. Norbert has a nature that is simple, thoughtful, and is a good community person, not expansive, but very open, she has concern for others. She is generous, efficient, discrete, shy, and has a very good social sense.” These qualities have marked her whole life.

Sr M. Norbert proclaimed the good news more by her life than by words. She journeyed in faith, welcoming the unexpected, open to the spirit. She tried to be, in her mission, a little of the presence of Mary.

Sr M. Maurizia smsm