Emma Fontaine
Emma Fontaine entered the convent in 1870 and changed her name to Sister Mary Zénon. She taught for a year in Montreal and then moved to Victoria, British Columbia. She was Mother Superior of the Sisters of St. Anne at Juneau, Alaska and then in Dawson in 1899 where she possessed a miner’s certificate and acquired two mining claims, Quebec and Santa Maria.1)
At this time, Father Judge's hospital and its debt load of $45,000 was deeded to the Sisters. The new superior was met with a note from the bank demanding immediate payment of $10,000. She called together the staff and asked if they could advance the money and the next morning appeared at the bank with the payment. She then set up an organization similar to one in Juneau where a monthly fee of $1.00 was charged for hospital care. She asked the Canadian government to subsidize the indigent and hired a lawyer to pressure others to pay their bills.2)
In July 1901, Sisters Zenon and Benedict toured the creeks for two weeks, soliciting donations from the miners to help liquidate the debt. They gathered between four and five thousand dollars, all of which was contributed by working men.3) The sisters continued to visit the creeks to ask for support and Sister Zenon gradually reduced the debt. Her last project in Dawson was to install a statue donated by Dr. J. Omer LaChapelle. He donated the statue after a successful operation, and the statue was later taken to Victoria. Sister Zénon left Dawson and was replaced by Sister Mary Mercienne in 1909.4)