A Lawrence native, Father Louis C. Dufour was born on Dec. 2, 1930, one of the six children of the late Chanel and Bernadette (Hemond) Dufour. Raised in a strong French Canadian family who were members of St. Ann (French) Church in Lawrence, he attended the parish elementary school and was an alumnus of Central Catholic High School, Lawrence from which he was graduate in 1948.

In preparation for ordination, he studied first at St. Philip Neri, a preparatory seminary founded by Archbishop Richard Cushing; then at Cardinal O'Connell in Jamaica Plain; and completed his philosophy and theology studies at St. John Seminary, Brighton.

Archbishop Richard J. Cushing ordained him to the priesthood at Holy Cross Cathedral on Feb. 3, 1958. No stranger to priestly vocations, he joined his older brother, the late Father Rene E. Dufour, a priest of the archdiocese ordained in 1995, and his maternal uncle, Father Emile O. Hemond of the class of 1937 -- that class was the first of three classes ordained by then Auxiliary Bishop Francis J. Spellman.

His first assignment was as an assistant at St. Michael Parish, Bedford (1958-1967); and then as an associate at St. Bridget Parish, Maynard (1967-1988). Because of serious health issues, he was on health leave for the next ten years prior to be granted senior priest/retirement status by Bernard Cardinal Law in November 1997.

In retirement, he lived first at his own residence in Seabrook, N.H. and then more recently at Youville Senior Care, Lowell, where he died on March 12, 2020.

Among his survivors are three brothers: Paul, Dracut; Emile, Lowell; and Henri, Westborough.

Following the funeral, Father Dufour was buried in St. Bridget Cemetery, Maynard.