Funeral of Jean Lapointe | “Thank you dad for teaching me the importance of having good friends”

It is on a small carpet of snow that family, friends and dignitaries arrived Saturday at the Saint-Viateur church in Outremont to participate in a private funeral ceremony in tribute to the singer, comedian, comedian and senator Jean Lapointe, who died on November 18 at the age of 86.

Artists, friends, relatives and politicians, including the Premier of Québec François Legault and the former Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, appeared at 10 a.m. Saturday at the entrance to the Saint-Viateur church in ‘Outremont. About 300 people had made an appointment for this last farewell.

“It’s important for me to be here,” said Premier Legault. Jean Lapointe was an exceptional artist who had all the talents. The older ones like me remember the Jérolas [son duo avec Jérôme Lemay] and his songs. Is there anyone who doesn’t know sing your song ? He was also a great actor, in Ordersin Duplessis Also. The scene of Duplessis when he puts Adélard Godbout in his place by telling him “you will not speak against Quebecers”, it marked Quebec television. »

Mr. Legault also read a full excerpt from this scene during the ceremony, which was greatly appreciated by the guests.

Comedian Benoît Brière, who read a poem that Félix Leclerc wrote in 1980 for Jean Lapointe, explained the ties that united him to Jean Lapointe. “I saw the Jérolas perform when I was 7 years old. My brother and I have seen all their shows. Lapointe was my idol, he confided to The Press. 10 years ago, we saw each other for the first time, and we fell in friendship. He told me all the admiration he had for me, when it was I who admired him! We shot a short film together. die alive, where we played a father and a son. We wanted to do another project together, but we didn’t have time. »

During the ceremony, Benoît Brière paid him a beautiful tribute, greeting Jean Lapointe on behalf of all the artists. He recounted how his shows, which he had seen in his youth, had influenced him, admiring his ability to go from comic to tragic. “Disproportionately charismatic”, an “actor who played in absolute truth”, who “reinvented the way of acting in cinema and on TV”.

He recalled these words of Félix Leclerc written for Lapointe: “Few guitars come to agreement. I want to tell you about a man who came to the agreement. He is a phenomenon without hatred, without revenge, without resentment, a man returned from several wars […]. »

Jean Chrétien, who appointed Jean Lapointe senator in 2001, praised his humanism and his commitment to people struggling with alcoholism: “A devoted and generous gentleman. He also praised his career as an actor and comedian.

To the media, a little earlier, Jean Chrétien admitted that he had followed the career of Jean Lapointe before appointing him to the Senate. “He was a guy who built himself up, he wasn’t pretentious, he came from a rural part of Quebec, like me, and he made his way to the top. In its own way. He had a unique personality, so I’m happy to be able to pay tribute to him today. »

During the celebration, Marie-Élaine Thibert sang If we sang together and sick flowers while Frayne McCarthy sang I Believe and What a Wonderful World.

The boss of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau, was also present. “He was a great friend of my father, who like him was involved in social causes. They had their own demons, if I may say so, and they had the greatness to recognize it and to come to the aid of all those who are struck by this scourge. [Jean Lapointe avec la Maison Jean-Lapointe]. For the esteem that I owe him and for that which I have for my father, it gives me pleasure to be here. »

The celebrant, Mr.^gr Alain Faubert, hailed the legacy of Jean Lapointe, and drew a parallel with the “Good Samaritan”, also alluding to the Maison Jean-Lapointe, which helps people with addictions. “Jean was himself pulled out of the ditch by the force of love. »

His children were present. His daughter Marie-Josée, from a first union (with two other children, Danielle and Michelle), made a short testimony evoking the imperfect character of her father and his own addiction problems. She admitted to being sober for five years. His two other children Jean-Marie and Anne-Élizabeth each testified in their own way.

Anne-Élizabeth singing a cappella Complaint to my brotherwhich his father had himself sung in the film Orders, by Michel Brault. “It was in October at Saint-Joseph d’Alma; Despite my sober life should end there; And sorrow to God my mother goodbye all my parents; Here I am leaving you today for a long time, ”she intoned.

Actor Jean-Marie Lapointe concluded the ceremony by recalling his last years with him, his last moments as well as some anecdotes with the sensitive man that was Jean Lapointe. He never hid that the public mourning he experienced with the rest of the population of Quebec made him feel good.

Moved, Jean-Marie Lapointe spoke of all the missing friends that his father “scratched” from his directory. “I was thinking of all the friends I was going to lose one day too. Thanks dad for teaching me the importance of having good friends. To take care of it. There are several who are present today to support us. And many others that have arisen since your death. There isn’t a legacy that backs that up. »

The Quebec flag was lowered to half-mast on the central tower of the Parliament Building for the occasion.