Renald D. Labarre was born in Biddeford, Maine, USA in 1934. His father, born in Canada, worked at the Saco-Lowell Mills. His mother, born in Biddeford, was a homemaker.

In his high school yearbook, Renald aspires to be a doctor, but somewhere this changed and he became a very well known and respected priest. Instead of taking care of the bodies of people, he chose to take care of their souls and although he is officially “ retired” he continues to visit his home state to do masses for special occasions such as at Christmas time or during the summer and La Kermesse Festival. 

After the interview was over, Father Labarre shared a story of how he was preordained to become a priest without his knowledge. Due to an unfortunate accident he almost died at a very young age due to burns and scalding. 

The local priest was called, Father Xenon Decary, to see him at home. While there, Father Decary asked for some time alone with Renald who was expected to die. When he came out of the room, he told Renald’s mother that he would be ok because “God had a plan for him”. Renald’s mom never told him of this discussion as she did not want to influence his decision to become a priest. 

Father Labarre told the story of how when he made the decision and told his mother for the first time that he wanted to become a priest, she told him she already knew.This is when he first heard the story of Father Decary’s words.

In part of the oral interview that was not recorded due to unforeseen difficulties, Father Labarre spoke of how he came make the decision to become a priest, the nun who was an influencing factor in that decision and what it was like to tell his parents of his decision. He spoke of how this was the first and only time he ever saw his father cry.