John Paul Tanguay (1917 – 2001)
John Paul Tanguay was originally from St. Rosalie, Quebec. He came north in 1944 as a Catholic Oblate priest. His first few years were spent as a travelling teacher to First Nations people working their traplines around Fort Nelson, Prophet River, Lower Post, and Dease Lake.1) He and Father Joseph Forget from Ontario arrived in the same year. They were the first priests in the new diocese.2)
Father Tanguay arrived in the Yukon in 1952. The first day, he was with Father Chairon, then he went to Minto for a few days, and then he went to Fort Selkirk. The Selkirk people were all ready to move to Minto.3) Father Tanguay spent fifteen years in Carmacks [1952 – 1965] and seventeen years in Teslin [1966 – 1983]. He helped Father Morisset put up a church at Champagne in 1947. He also helped on the church at Haines Junction.4)
Father Tanguay retired to Whitehorse in 1999 and died in Richelieu, Quebec. His collection of photographs, sound recordings and text records are held at the Yukon Archives. His autobiography is called Mon petit monde (My Little World).5)