Armand Maurice Proulx

1930 - 2024

Armand Maurice Proulx

Greenfield, MA - Armand Maurice Proulx of Greenfield, MA, Catholic priest, UCC minister, beloved husband, best friend and soul mate of wife Jeanne Marguerite Douillard, and beloved, "favorite" father of Rachelle Magali Douillard-Proulx, died peacefully at home surrounded by love in the early hours of Monday, May 20, 2024. He had a private green burial in Highland Woods Cemetery in Montague, MA on Wednesday, May 23, 2024.

Born at home in East Springfield, MA on August 2, 1930, Armand entered the LaSalette Preparatory Seminary in Enfield, N.H. in 1943 at the age of thirteen. LaSalette is a Catholic international Missionary Community with headquarters in Rome, Italy and subsidiaries all over the world. He obtained a B.A. in Philosophy at the LaSalette Major Seminary in Attleboro, MA in 1952, after which he pursued studies in Theology, obtaining a Master's Degree at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy in 1956. He was ordained a Catholic priest in LaSalette, France, located in the French Alps, in 1955. In 1962, he received a Master's Degree in English at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.

While a member of the LaSalette Community, Father Proulx served in many leadership positions: director of Camp Pius XI, a summer camp for Catholic boys in Enfield, NH (1957 to 1959); director of the Junior College Seminary in East Brewster, MA (1960-1965), assistant regional director (1965-1970), and regional director (Provincial Superior) with local communities throughout New England as well as New Brunswick, Québec, Ontario and the Philippines. (1970-1976). He also served as pastor of Saint John the Baptist Church in Roanoke Rapids, NC (1978-1981). Father Proulx preached retreats throughout the United States and was Chair of the Religious Life Committee of the CMSM (Conference of Major Superiors of Men) in the 1970's. While in this position, he was introduced to "The Prayer of the Cloud" by a member of the committee, Trappist Father Basil Pennington.

In the 1970s, answering the call of Vatican II, three Trappist monks at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, Fathers William Meninger, Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating, began looking to ancient sources (one of which was the book, The Cloud of Unknowing) in order to develop a simple method of silent prayer for contemporary people. When explaining the "Prayer of the Cloud," Father Basil would often refer to Thomas Merton's reflections on contemplative prayer as being "centered entirely on the presence of God." At the very first retreat held outside of the Monastery walls, (Pawtucket, Rhode Island), Father Proulx began calling "The Prayer of the Cloud," "Centering Prayer." Thus a new name for this practice was launched and remains in use to this day.

Armand left his beloved religious order in 1981. He married Jeanne Douillard in Castle Rock, Colorado in 1982 before moving to Beaufort, North Carolina, where they welcomed daughter Rachelle in 1985. They left North Carolina to come back to New England in 1987. Armand and Jeanne celebrated 42 years of marriage on May, 16 2024.

While living with his family in East Longmeadow, Armand worked in the Human Resources Department of MassMutual. In 1989; he also began serving as part-time pastor of Wyben Union Church, an inter-denominational congregation in Westfield, MA. Reverend Proulx served until 2004, when he felt called to pursue standing as a minister in the United Church of Christ. He became pastor of Second Congregational Church in Greenfield, MA in 2004 until his retirement in 2012. While there, he established four Centering Prayer groups and gave workshops throughout Western Massachusetts and Vermont.

Armand loved his favorite baseball team - the Boston Red Sox, of course! - almost as much as his beloved wife, Jeanne, and "favorite" daughter, Rachelle. He took Jeanne and Rachelle to their first Red Sox game in 1993, and yearly pilgrimages to Fenway Park ensued. The family was also thrilled to celebrate the long-awaited 2004 World Series Championship together at the Red Sox victory parade in Boston.

Baseball fanaticism aside, Armand enjoyed traveling with Jeanne and Rachelle across the United States, Canada and throughout Europe. When Rachelle was 10, they went to Québec to visit Québec City and The Gaspé, the Proulx family farm in Montmagny and the Douillard homestead in Ste. Catherine de Hatley. Later trips included a month-long, five-country stay in Europe for Rachelle's college graduation - during which he introduced his family to Rome, the city he said saved his life, and to La Salette in the French Alps, where he had been ordained a Catholic priest.

Armand and Jeanne also spent time tracing their ancestral roots in France, trips Rachelle joined when she could. The pair journeyed to Israel and Palestine in 2017 and enjoyed a Scandinavian sojourn in 2019. Their final trip together overseas was to visit Rachelle in her new home in the Netherlands in 2022; they visited the famed tulip gardens at Keukenhof, stopped by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and toured through Delft, Leiden and Amsterdam.

Armand spent his life in service to others and this was returned a hundredfold in his last years. There was an army of angels, a community of care (you know who you are!), who lovingly showed up at our home month after month to keep him walking. Thank you dearest friends for your incredible generosity. Thanks also to Jamie and Chris who came faithfully week after week pour jaser et parler de toutes sortes de choses. Many thanks also go to the many Caregivers from the Cooley-Dickinson VNA and Hospice as well as Dr. Rebecca Starr. Thanks too to our Caregiver extraordinaire, Deb, who helped smooth out the rough road of his last months on earth, doing anything we asked of her.

Armand will doubtlessly be missed by so many people, but especially by Jeanne and Rachelle (and 'grand-pug' Jacques), who are so grateful for the family memories made as a unit of three - or, as Armand was fond of saying, the 'Holy Trinity.' Also left here on earth to mourn Armand's loss are his brothers Maurice (Moe) and Normand; his brother-in-law Paul Douillard, sisters-in-law Elaine Kuczarski and Lucille (Lucy) Beck; the brothers and priests of LaSalette; and numerous nieces and nephews, grand-and great-grand nieces and nephews, cousins, and friends from all over the world. He was predeceased by his father, Joseph Proulx, his mother Juliette (Péloquin) Proulx, his brothers Jean-Paul, Roger and Gerard (Gerry), his brothers-in-law Craig Beck and Glenn Kuczarski, his sisters-in-law Carol (Celucci) Douillard and Charlotte (Aspen) Proulx and grand-niece Sophia Kuczarski.

Donations in Armand's memory may be made to the following organizations: Community Meals, (www.fccmp.org), Stone Soup Café/Harvest Supper (www.thestonesoupcafe.org), Building Bridges (www.buildingbridgesveterans.org ), Bread of Life (www.blessedtrinitygreenfield.org) and Triad (Franklin County Sheriff's Office, 160 Elm Street, Greenfield (MA 01301).

This is Armand's message to us all: "I wish for everybody in the universe to live inside their innate goodness. Each person in the universe is God's favorite child and what that means is, 'Each person in the universe is God's favorite child!'"