Louis-Azarias Doucet was born on July 23, 1918, in Petit-Rocher, N.B. where he attended elementary school and the
Petit-Rocher Superior School from which he graduated. He then attended the New Brunswick Provincial Normal
School graduating in 1937. From graduation until 1941 he consecutively earned second, first, first class superior and
Grammar School teaching licenses. His post-secondary studies included a B.A. program at Université Sacré-Coeur
(1953); studies at Laval University (1955) and the University of Alberta (1963). As well, he pursued a university level short
course for school inspectors at Banff. In 1963 his alma mater, Université Sacré-Coeur, conferred an honorary M.Ed.
degree on him. In 1983 the Université de Moncton conferred on him the degree Doctor of Education.
His teaching career included three years at the elementary level at Miscou Centre (1937-1938) and Petit-Rocher North Schools (1939-1941). This experience was followed by serving at Université Sacré Coeur as a mathematics teacher in the high school and Belles-Lettres and Rhetorique at the first-year college level (1941-1949). During this period he also served in the Canadian Officers' Training Corps achieving the rank of Captain. As well, he served as an instructor in the Cadet Corps at the high school level.
From 1949 to 1952 he served as Assistant Superintendent to the Gloucester County Superintendent of Schools, and in 1952 he was appointed Superintendent of Schools for the County. In 1965 he assumed a number of responsibilities for the Provincial Department of Education in Fredericton becoming successively Director of Administration and Associate Chief Superintendent of Education. Among his many tasks were: Executive Secretary of the Committee on the Organization and Boundaries of School Districts (Elliot-Finn Report); Coordinator of District Organization (Implementation of the Elliot-Finn Report); and Chair of the Departmental Committee recommending transfer of Teacher Education to the Universities (1971).
He also served the Department of Education and the wider provincial community as a member of a consultant firm studying reclassification of all provincial civil servants (1971-1972); as a member of the Canadian Delegation to a meeting of French-speaking countries at Madagascar (1972); as President of the New Brunswick Non-instructional Educational Employees Association (1972-1973); and as a member of the Interdepartmental Committee on Educational Planning based on the MacLeod-Pinet Report (1973). During its first year of operation (1977-1978), he acted as Secretary-Treasurer of Le Centre Communautaire Ste-Anne, Fredericton.
A much cherished honor was receiving the medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from Pope John XXIII on November 16, 1962.
Following his retirement on March 31, 1983, he wrote at the request of the Minister of Education a brief history of public education in New Brunswick: Two Centuries of Progress (1974-1984).
M. Doucet passed away in Fredericton on November 11, 2019, at the age of 101. His beloved wife, Agnes, mother of their nine children, passed away on July 22, 2007.
Elémentaires et secondaires à Petit Rocher, N.-B.
Ecole Normale, Fredericton, N-B.: 1936-1937
Brevets d'Enseignements obtenus:
2e classe en 1937
1re classe en 1939
Supérieure en 1940
Grammaire en 1941
B.A.: Université Sacré Coeur, Bathurst, N.-B. en 1947
Cours d'été vers le B. Ped. à l'Université St. Joseph en 1953: 1½ credit
Cours abrégés pour inspecteurs d'écoles (aucun crédit universitaire)
Universitaire Laval en 1955
Universitaire d'Alberta en 1963
MILICE: C.E.O.C. (C.O.T.C.)
Sous-Lieutenant 1941
Lieutenant 1942
Capitaine 1944-1945
ENSEIGNEMENT ET ADMINISTRATION:
1937 à 1940 3 ans Ecoles Elementaires du N.-B.
1941 à 1949 8 ans Mathématiques à l'Université Sacré Coeur, Bathurst, N.-B.
au niveau High School et deux premières années du cours
collégial (Belles-Lettres et Rhétorique)
1949 à 1952 3 ans Adjoint au Surintendant des Ecoles du Comté de Gloucester,
N.-B. (Inspection des Ecoles)
1952 à 1965 13 ans Surintendant des Ecoles du Comté de Responsabilité général
des écoles publique du niveau primaire au secondaire, au point
du vue enseignement et administration (Pendant cette période
le nombre d'élèves a passé de 11,772 à 18,689 et le nombre
d'enseignements de 362 à 703.)
1965: Permuté au ministère de l'education à Fredericton au poste
d'adjoint au sous-ministre de langue française, officiellement
désigné Director of Administration
DECORATIONS:
1962: Médaile "Pro Ecclesia et :Pontifice de S. S. Jean XXIII
1963: M. Ed. (Honoris Causa): Université Sacré Coeur
1983: D. Ed.: Université de Moncton
SITUATION FAMILIALE:
Il est né le 23 juillet 1918. Il est mort le 11 novembre 2019.
Son épouse Agnes, la mère de leurs neuf enfants, est décédée
le 22 juillet 2007.