Francis Chauvin (November 18, 1933 - March 13, 2015) was a Canadian

police detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

from

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

. He is best known for resigning from the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in protest at the appointment of

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler, (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

to the Order in 2009. He retired from the

Windsor Police Service The Windsor Police Service is the municipal law enforcement agency in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It succeeded the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment. Since 2019, the Windsor Police Service has also provided contract policing services for the nearby ...

in 1988.

Charity work

Chauvin began his charitable work with Holy Name of Mary Food Fund in the 1970s. In 1988, motivated by seeing a mother and her severely sick child during a trip to Port-au-Prince, Chauvin established Foyer des Filles de Dieu, the home of God's daughters, an orphanage and clinic in Haiti for orphaned and abandoned girls between the ages of 18 months and 18 years. The facility is supported by tens of thousands of dollars in donations annually, mostly from Windsor and Essex County. During the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...

, four died at Foyer des Filles de Dieu. He has been deeply involved with Madonna House and Canadian Food for Children.

Personal life

Chauvin and his wife, Lorraine, had 10 children and have sponsored refugees. He died at the age of 81 at his home in Windsor on March 13, 2015, of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

and

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce ...

(COPD). In 2007, he swayed Windsor's city council to unanimously designate St. Rose Church a heritage building.

Accolades

In 1987, he was awarded the

. He would later rescind it in 2009, protesting Henry Morgentaler's appointment to the Order. In 2009, he was awarded the Benemerenti medal.CCRL Founder of Haitian orphanage, pro-life leader receives CCRL honour
/ref> In 2009, he was awarded the Catholic Civil Rights League's Archbishop Adam Exner Award for Catholic Excellence in Public Life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauvin, Frank Franco-Ontarian people Canadian people of French descent Canadian police officers People from Windsor, Ontario Members of the Order of Canada 2015 deaths Canadian Roman Catholics 1933 births Recipients of the Benemerenti medal