Marie-Laure Ménard Crevier Noseworthy
Marie-Laure Crevier was born June 1919 in the small town of Green Valley, the second eldest in a family of nine. Raised a devout Catholic, she completed the equivalent of grade eight before leaving to help her mother with her siblings and her father, a cheesemaker. During those years with no organized sports, especially for girls, she learned to play softball and skate with well worn skates shared with her brothers.
At 16, she contracted measles as well as tuberculosis and spent more than 2 years in a Sanatorium near Toronto. Her recovery required a long period of rehabilitation, but she was determined to get better, a determination she has shown ever since. During her recovery, she became proficient in all kinds of sewing as well as quilt making.
In 1947, Marie-Laure married Aimé Ménard and while he was employed as a heavy equipment operator, she maintained the household and raised chickens. In 1962 they acquired the Massey Ferguson franchise in Green Valley. Four years later, Aimé passed away. Determined to go on, she became the first woman in Canada to own and operate an M-F dealership where she worked until her retirement at 65.
Aimé introduced Marie-Laure to curling. He had been involved in ice making on natural ice and he played almost every night as well. She would accompany him, and watch him play. One night she was invited to play as a spare and grew fond of the game. She joined the Alexandria Curling Club in 1956-1957, the first year ladies were invited to join and in the same year helped organize Alexandria’s first Women’s Curling League with four teams. Most ladies were new to the game, and Marie-Laure, schooled by her husband, quickly became a skip. She also continued to spare with the men perfecting her shot making and mastering the perfect draw weight.
She remembers her first real game against the club president’s wife, a long 8-ender which she won, earning her the President’s Prize, a medal she still has. The next year, Lancaster couples, without their own rink, travelled to Alexandria to play with and against Marie-Laure and Aimé starting mixed play for the first time. The first competitive trophy she won was the Challenge Cup in 1960, the first year it was awarded. She still has the program to prove it. At 89, in 2008 she skipped her ladies’ rink to win the Jock and Bra Trophy, skunking the men’s team in the process; although, she does admit that the game was played late at night and some of the men had been drinking.
Marie-Laure has been skipping rinks for more than 50 years at the Alexandria Curling Club, her second home where she could be found curling several nights a week as well as on the ice or in the kitchen on many weekend bonspiels. After she retired, she had even more time to devote to her favourite sport and she met her second husband, Bud Noseworthy, at the rink. She took up golf at the age of 65 to spend more time with Bud, an avid golfer. She claims she had the choice of learning golf or staying at home a lot. Not much of a choice for a woman like Marie-Laure. Not letting knee replacement surgery slow her down, she is a player who at 92 would still give you a competitive, good game. Adding to her reputation is the legendary pea soup that she brought to the club at least once a month. This year at 93 she has had to curtail both her curling and golf. She is awaiting more knee surgery, and claims that although this year she can’t do anything, when she has her operation, she’ll be “back at work on the ice and on the greens.”
In her 55 years as a member, Marie-Laure has seen many changes in her club. In fact in many ways she has lived the history of the club. She was there when the change from natural to artificial ice was made. She was there for the start of both Women’s and Mixed Curling at the club. She was there through the fundraisers and the building of the present clubhouse and she has been there ever since. When asked why she never ran for Club President, she replied that she was too shy to give it a try. For more than 55 years now, her smile, her warmth, her quiet unassuming manner has been a constant at the club.
Marie-Laure became a role model to other women in her early years of curling and remains a role model to all today, encouraging curlers and golfers of all ages to continue to play for the love of the game. She understands the importance of balance in sport and life and plays to meet people, stay fit as well as support the community. Few people in their nineties lead active lives. Yet, Marie-Laure Noseworthy does and she excels at it. On behalf of the hundreds of curlers and golfers who have been lucky enough over the last 50 years to have played with you, Marie-Laure, we welcome you into the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame.
