LEWISTON —  Rita Dube calls Sister Solange Bernier the “goodest” person she ever knew.

“Her whole life was about giving and sharing and teaching,” Dube, the executive director of the Franco-American Heritage Center, said. “She was my role model and my mentor.”

Sister Solange died in 2007.

On Wednesday, the longtime French teacher at St. Dominic Regional High School will be inducted into the Maine Franco-American Hall of Fame along with four others. Dube plans to accept the honor on behalf of Solange’s family. Gov. Paul LePage is scheduled to make the presentation in Augusta.

“It’s such a great honor because I can’t think of anyone more deserving,” Dube said.

Solange was born in Lewiston in 1921. She attended St. Mary’s Parochial School in Lewiston and in 1938 entered the Ursuline Sisters’ Novitiate at Mount Merici in Waterville.

She became a nun three years later and began a life of study and teaching.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in French at St. Michael’s College in northern Vermont. In 1965, she earned a master’s degree in theology from Notre Dame University with high honors. In 1971, she received a diploma in the teaching of French from the Laval University in Quebec.She taught at parochial schools in Sanford, Springvale, Waterville and Winslow.

And she taught French at St. Dom’s for more than 30 years, sharing the language with generations of young people.

Solange was honored with several awards for her teaching and promoting French culture.

In 1975, Solange  was named an Outstanding Secondary School Teacher in America. In 1976, the “Conseil de la Vie Francaise en Amerique” in Quebec awarded her a medal making her a member of “L’Ordre de la Fidelite Francaise.” In 1983, the French government honored her by naming her “Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques.”

In 1996, St. Dom’s established a scholarship for needy students in her name.

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