April 10, 1931 – June 30, 2023
Roland was born to pure laine parents in the New England diaspora community of Manchester, New Hampshire.
His mother was Antonia Boisvert and his father Joseph Leonidas (Leo) Gosselin. His only sibling, Simone, died in 2000.
After service in a U.S. Army medical ambulance company in South Korea (1952-54), he graduated from St. Anselm College, and did graduate studies in Chapel Hill (University of North Carolina), City University of New York, and New York University.
During his graduate studies in New York he began his teaching career, first in secondary schools and then in the City University of New York.
Roland was dedicated to a life of love and service. He was bilingual, and a favourite expression was On ne voit pas qu’avec le coeur. In 1951, while working at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York in the Medical Reference Library, he began volunteering at the Catholic Worker, a pacifist/anarchist organization founded by Dorothy Day to serve the poor on the Bowery. He continued this work for many years.
His first marriage to Eleanor Corrigan produced two children, Gabrielle Antonia and Pierre-Joseph. A widower in 1991, he was by chance introduced to Rosemary Glynne Rochester, and they married in 1992 in St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University.
At his retirement in 2002 they celebrated their Canadian roots by moving to Thornbury with their Siberian Huskies, Natasha and Nikolai. Roland soon began ESL teaching at the Beaver Valley Community School, and later with each of the three refugee families welcomed to Thornbury.
Roland was active in Amnesty International, Answers for Seniors (Beaver Valley Outreach), and the Climate Action Now Network, where he was a member of the Natural Burial Team.
Roland is survived by Rosemary, his children, and grandchildren Kachina Claire and Oshadagea Emrys (Gosselin), and his beloved step-family, Margot, Charlie, Turner, Reid, Daphne, Brooke, Christophe-Alain, Ashley, Or, and great-grandchildren Lily, Eden, and Elai.
“And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche.” – Geoffrey Chaucer
All are invited to a community gathering to remember Roland on Sunday, July 9, 2023, from 2 until 4 p.m. at the Blue Mountains Library in Thornbury.
As your expression of sympathy, and in lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity or NGO ‘Non-Government Organization’ that is dear to your heart. Donations may be made directly or through the Ferguson Funeral Home, 48 Boucher St. E., Meaford, ON, N4L 1B9, to whom arrangements have been entrusted.
