In memoriam: Irene Dubé

"Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness." (Matthew 25:21)

The St. Thomas More College (STM) community mourns the passing of Irene Dubé on June 9, 2026.

“We offer our heartfelt condolences to Irene’s family as we remember Irene Dubé and honour her profound legacy in the community and at STM. Through her visionary generosity and service, Irene enriched the life of the College and elevated the learning experience of countless students over the past twenty years,” said STM President Dr. Carl Still (PhD).

With her husband, Leslie, Irene Dubé will be remembered and celebrated for her transformative philanthropy. At STM, the Dubés generously inaugurated the Les and Irene Dubé Service-Learning Program in 2005 and the Leslie and Irene Dubé Chair for Catholic Studies in 2012.

Partners in life, in business, and in philanthropy, Irene and Les led our community with their unique example of joyful, loving kindness and generosity in all they did. Irene and Les gave generously to numerous charitable organizations in Saskatoon as well as in Canada and internationally. Irene and Les received honorary Doctor of Law degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in 2007, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2008, the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ 2013 Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year for North America award, and in 2016, the Order of Canada, our nation’s highest honour.

Irene’s passion for STM was grounded in her deep Catholic faith: “We are strong believers in the importance of a College that encourages students to explore both faith and reason, and the Chair in Catholic Studies at St. Thomas More College will be a vital contributor to this environment.”

Irene and Les’ visionary belief in our students led them to invest transformative gifts in new and mission-driven projects at STM. The Leslie & Irene Dubé Service-Learning Program provides scholarships to ensure students gain an opportunity to engage in community-service learning. The Leslie and Irene Dubé Chair for Catholic Studies support scholarship and research related to Catholic teaching, fosters Catholic education, and promotes ecumenical dialogue and awareness of other faith traditions, most notably through an annual lecture series.

Fr. George Smith, CSB, President Emeritus of STM, said of the Dubés’ contributions and influence: “The example that Les and Irene Dubé provide to our students as committed and caring people – active in so many ways in our community – is exactly the example that our students need as they prepare to go out into the world as men and women of conscience, substance and generosity.”

Dr. Terence J. Downey, PhD, President Emeritus of STM, also reflected on the impact that Irene had on the College: “In the second year of my presidency, 2012, Les and Irene Dubé donated one million dollars to endow a chair in Catholic Studies at STM, only the second such chair in Canada. The Leslie and Irene Dubé Chair for Catholic Studies enables STM to extend its intellectual leadership beyond its classrooms to the broader Catholic and local communities through public lectures and invited presentations by distinguished scholars. While this is only one example of the Dubes’ exemplary generosity to STM, the Chair they made possible is uniquely positioned to manifest and make accessible to all the essence of the Catholic intellectual tradition. A worthy legacy indeed by this remarkable couple.”   

Irene Dubé had made a big difference to all of us. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Dubé family as we remember Irene Dubé and honour her profound legacy at St. Thomas More College.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated on Friday, June 19th, 2026 at 2:00 pm at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Co-Cathedral with a reception following at the Sheraton Hotel, Top of the Inn.