Happy Memories of Fr. Gilbert and Fr. Eddie Doyle CSSR
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May 3, 2023Gilbert and Edward Doyle were brothers who grew up in Griffintown, Montreal, Quebec. They were also Redemptorist Priests.
Gilbert was born July 11, 1900 and Eddie was born June 8, 1901, which is why they were probably very close, always looking out for one another. Fr. Eddie liked to call his brother Gilbert "Bert." We called him Fr. Gilly.
Fr. Gilly was always cheerful and a gentleman in every circumstance. Because of his gentle manners people warmed up to Fr. Gilly very easily. It was harder to warm up to Fr. Eddie because he was a bit of a grouch.
So here are a few memories of them during their retirement years at Holy Redeemer College, our Retreat/Conference Centre in Windsor, Ontario.
Elderly Fr. Eddie had been unwell for days and one morning when he had fallen out of bed twice we called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. We all thought he was dying because he looked so very frail. The paramedics arrived and placed a semiconscious Fr. Eddie on the gurney. Fr. Gilly packed a small overnight bag for his brother. Several of us followed the gurney to the main entrance thinking we might never see this dear old friend again.
At the main entrance Fr. Eddie suddenly opened his eyes and seeing his brother carrying his overnight bag said in a very clear strong voice, "BERT.......BERT...... Did you pack my cigars...... Bert?" Well, Fr. Eddie recovered and was moved to Ville Marie Nursing Home.
One evening a few of us took Fr. Gilly to visit Fr. Eddie. While Fr. Gilly was visiting with Fr. Eddie we went to visit Brother Louis Berti, another Redemptorist who was also living there. When it was time to go home we said goodbye to Br. Louie promising to return soon and went to Fr. Eddie's room to pick up Fr. Gilly. We didn't see Fr. Gilly when we entered Fr. Eddie's room and after asking Fr. Eddie where Fr. Gilly was, he informed us Fr. Gilly was in his washroom and said "I'll get him for you."
Fr. Eddie went and knocked hard on a door saying "BERT....BERT come on out Bert........they've come to take you home BERT. There was no response. Fr. Eddie knocked again...come on out BERT.... BERT they've come to take you home BERT! There was still no response. We waited for a minute then I went to see if the door was locked, it wasn't so I turned the handle slowly and opened the door a crack and peeked in "It was Fr. Eddie's clothes closet!" Apparently Fr. Eddie didn't have a washroom in his bedroom as he imagined!
As we looked out in the hall there was Fr. Gilly walking toward us from the washroom at the end of the hall.
Virginia was our wonderful secretary at Holy Redeemer College. Sadly Virginia's father died of cancer in 1983 at age 69. We all attended his wake at Janisse Brothers Funeral Parlor on Ouellette Ave. We were all dressed in our Sunday best as we disembarked from our van in the funeral parlor parking lot.
Fr. Gilly Doyle was wearing his black suit and clerical collar and white running shoes and a grey baseball cap from The Consumers Gas Company. We tried diplomatically to persuade Fr. Gilly to leave the baseball cap in the van but he insisted that he would wear it into the wake. The reason we were concerned about this particular baseball cap being worn was because in bold letters on the front it said "CALL BEFORE YOU DIG!"
Now, I'll let Virginia tell you the rest of the story. "I will set the mood for you. We were all at the funeral parlour when Father Doyle arrived with his running shoes and the baseball cap from Union Gas, which said, "Call Before You Dig!" I do remember that there was a bit of subdued laughter at the funeral parlour, kind of quiet comic relief. No one would ever have wanted to make Father Doyle feel bad.
Fr. Des Scanlan was standing near me when Fr. Doyle arrived and when he saw the cap Fr. Scanlan's face said it all - he was mortified.After family and friends came back to our home. I remember retelling the story and at that time there was a great deal of laughter. A not so quiet comic relief. I can still see Brother Nick's Haley's shoulders going up and down as he laughed. Laughter really is the best medicine.”