In our Pioneer Ladies section, we grouped some of the women who realized exceptional accomplishment in sports, education, charity, community services or other fields.

Marguerite Frigon Beaudet (1906-1991)

The family of Marguerite Frigon moved to Beaurepaire in 1912. She volunteered at the library for 32 years. The library did not have French books when she appealed on CKAC and received 300 books. She was sacristan at the St Joseph school (St Rémi) for 15 ½ yrs, 9 years for the Manresa Auxiliary. In1958, she is responsible for a petition sent to the Postmaster General, to save the name Beaurepaire for postal use.

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Alice Lépine Carrière (    -1947)

Alice married Louis Carrière.  Their home on Woodland hosted the post office where she was postmistress from 1919 until 1946.  Along with Mrs William Angell, she organized several fundraising events for the Beaurepaire United Church.

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Georgette Simard Cartier (1911-2001)

Georgette Simard Cartier is the wife of Dr George Etienne Cartier, Cardio-vascular Surgeon. She bought the house at 476 Lakeshore, on Thompson Point, in 1947, and it will be their summer home for 30 years. Mrs Cartier made several appeal to members of the government, in 1958, in order to be able to still use the name Beaurepaire for postal use and in 1964 for the re-installation of the Beaurepaire road sign. She succeeded.

Their son, Dr George Etienne Cartier, Psychiatrist, bought the house in 1977 and insulated it to make it his main residence. He inhabited the house up until his death in July 2010.

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Mabel McNamee Neale (1892-1982)

Mabel began her championship swimming as a young girl in London, England, and continued when her family immigrated to Montreal in 1910. In 1914, she was the 2^nd woman in Canada to earn the highest award given for a swimmer by the Royal life Saving Society. She won an Eastern Ontario championship in 1927 as the mother of two.

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Elsie Meighen Reford (1872-1967)

Elsie Meighen was born in Perth, Ontario, on January 22, 1872. She was a woman who made a difference. She married Robert Wilson Reford in 1894. Her father, Robert Meighen, was president of Lake of the Woods Milling Co. (maker of Five Roses flour). Her mother, Elsie Stephen, was the sister of Lord Mount Stephen. Elsie was a driving force in the foundation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, a philanthropist and a musician. She got involved in VON (Victoria Order of Nurse). The house at 13 Thompson-Point Street was her summer residence from 1891 to 1907. In 1918, she inherited the domain Stephen Lodge of her uncle George, Lord Mount Stephen, in Métis. After diagnosing appendicitis, her doctor forbade her from salmon fishing. She then turned to creating the Reford Gardens (Jardins de Métis). Elsie acquired a reputation of great gardener.

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