Brother George Donat Poirier, S.C., a religious Brother of the Sacred Heart, died on Saturday, August 28, 2021, at Overlook Nursing Center at the age of 83. Born in Nashua, NH, he was the only child of the late Rose Corriveau Poirier and Isidore Poirier. Brother George entered the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1953, pronounced his first vows in Pomfret, CT in 1955, and professed his final vows in Harrisville, RI, in 1961.
In 1960, Brother George received his B.A. in History from St. Michael’s College, Winooski, VT, and in 1964, he earned a B.A. in English from the University of South Africa. He later earned a diploma in Theology and Spirituality in 1966 and a Guidance and Counseling Diploma in 1971, both from the University of South Africa. He also received a diploma in Theology from St. Paul University, Ottawa, Canada, in 1975; an MA in Teaching Religious Education and a Special Advanced Rel. Ed. Certificate both from St. Michael’s University, VT, in 1979 and 1991, respectively.
Brother George’s early teaching career began in 1957-61 at Precious Blood School in Woonsocket, RI, continued at Sacred Heart School in Sharon, MA, and then went on to Father McDonald H.S. in St. Laurent, Canada.
For the next 55 years of his career, Brother George served as a missionary in southern Africa, in several roles: as teacher, school leader, and then as the main, District leader, i.e., Regional Superior. Brother George influenced thousands of young African lives at the Charles Lwanga School in Zambia, at St. Francis School in Malole, Zambia, and as the senior lecturer and founder of religious education at the Brothers’ school in Kabwe, Zambia.
Aside from his ministry in educational institutions, Brother George served as the Master of Novices and Postulants in both Malole and Lusaka, Zambia. He was the Director of “Cinci Wa Babilo,” the Rural Project Development and Economic Act, in Malole, Zambia, from 1998-2006; a teacher at the International Formation Center in Lusaka from 2007-08; and Director and Finance Controller of the Shitima Hope Center, Kabwe, Zambia for street kids from 2009-16. Due to medical issues, Brother George returned to the United States, first to Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, RI, in 2017, and then to the Brothers Retirement Center in Pascoag, RI, soon afterwards. He was finally transferred to Overlook Nursing Home in 2021 when he was placed on hospice care.
The burial will be private. A celebration of Brother George’s life will be held at a later date.
Memorial donations may be made to the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Foundation, 4600 Elysian Fields Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70122.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Brother George Donat Poirier, please visit our floral store.