Remembering Dr. Georges Lefebvre

Emily Southwood - In early January, the Huntingdon community was saddened to lose a man who served the public for many years. Dr. Lefebvre (also familiarly known as Dr. George) practiced as a family doctor from his home on the corner of rue Prince and Bouchette for 45 years and also worked in the former Huntingdon Hospital ER and as a local coroner. Dr. George Lefebvre was born of French Canadian and Irish decent in Saint Antoine-Abbé where his father ran the general store. As a young man, Georges moved to Montreal to pursue a Bachelor of Arts at McGill and afterwards did a three-year medical degree. After interning at Saint Mary’s hospital, he worked as an army corps doctor in the Maritimes before returning to Huntingdon, QC to start a family practice. As a coroner, ER doctor, and childbirth specialist, he regularly left the house at all hours of the night and was beloved within the community. Dr. Lefebvre was recently honored in a McGill exhibition on 20th Century Rural Medicine and received his 70-year Huntingdon Legion service medal last June. The President of the Huntingdon Legion expressed his sympathies: “It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I announce the passing of one of our oldest veterans and long time members, Doctor George Lefebvre. Dr. George was one of our small town doctors who kept regular office hours, used to make house calls, was available day or night for emergencies, and has brought many of the Huntingdon population into this world over several decades… To say that Dr. George will be missed is an understatement.”