Taking care of others was a theme of the previous weeks’ Elder Highlight, a theme that will be carried into the selection of Cecelia Lafrance as an elder to highlight. Cecelia has always been a lightening rod for strange happenings. This began at an early age when she first rode the bus to school in Massena and the bus tire fell off, causing all the children to be late for their first day of school. Little did she know then, this mishap would be one of many that she would encounter, especially in her chosen profession in the medical field as an x-ray technician.

Cecelia has been witness to a lot of changes in hospital regulations. She can recall the days when patients used to ask her to pack and light their tobacco pipes, and having to explain to patients that there really wasn’t any need to have their dentures in to have an x-ray taken – that it wasn’t that kind of picture.

Having worked at hospitals in Cornwall, Malone, Ogdensburg, Syracuse, Rochester and with a portable service around the North Country, Cecelia’s profession was never boring. She quickly earned a name for herself with the attending physicians who worked with her, many describing Cecelia as having a black cloud following her. If she was on-call for a weekend, there was never a dull moment.

The work that Cecelia did was also very gratifying for her, being able to help those in need with their recoveries. She recalled one memorable case where a young woman was involved in a skidoo accident and was rushed to another hospital for care. Luckily that young woman recovered and Cecelia was able to connect with the family to follow her progress.

During the big ice storm in the late 1990’s Cecelia ended up staying at the Malone hospital for the duration. While she was on her way out to her car, which was buried under ice and snow, she slipped and fell and had to be admitted into the hospital for observation. With her energy and devotion to her job, it was hard for her to stay there without purpose, mainly because her CT scan and equipment did not have a power source and couldn’t be run. Even when she recovered from her fall there was no way to serve the patients who waited for their tests until the ice cleared.

Having been retired for over 10-years did not stop her from helping other elders with their daily chores. Cecelia would often offer rides and other assistance to those who needed it, like driving directions around areas like Potsdam where she was very familiar.

Her generosity extended to even stray animals that often wind up at her home looking for care. She found herself with a cat named Harry, whom she eventually brought to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Animal Control Kennel to be adopted. Like clockwork every week Cecelia would check in to make sure that Harry was okay and would provide the program with a bag of cat food to feed Harry until he was able to finally find his forever home. Still to this day Cecelia collects cat food coupons, and bottles and cans to help pay for food that she then donates to the program to care for the unwanted pets at the kennel.

The caring that she possesses within herself to always help others is the reason that Indian Time celebrates Cecelia Lafrance.