Father Michael "Catfish" Mireau was a beloved member of the Camp Encounter community, and helped shape the place it has become today. He loved Camp Encounter more than anyone. It was here that he found his calling to the priesthood, and it was here where he began to touch the lives of so many individuals. The following is the story of his time at Camp, shared by his close friend who grew up with him at Camp Encounter, David Graves.
"As with many stories, it begins with a woman. Her camp-name was Willow. She was my first Spirit’s Director but I remember her as a witch in, I think, a Wizard of OZ wide-game. I remember her laugh in particular and, looking back, I see Catfish’s attraction. She was lovely. I remember saying, “You’re funny Willow” and she’d reply “funny looking or funny ha ha?” It was a good joke when accompanied with Willow’s timing and warm personality. Many years later Catfish would confide in me that he met her at St. Joseph’s College on the University of Alberta Campus along with his most life-long friends: Shaun, Ray and Heather. In his words, he thought he was following his love to Camp Encounter but later realized it was there that he found his love - his vocation – which was undoubtedly was first fostered and developed at Lac La Nonne.
Obviously, things did not work out for Catfish’s romantic pursuits (and not for lack of trying). Now you have to remember our confidence matures as we get older and this was especially true for Catfish. The young man who first volunteered and later took on programming roles at Camp was a very different man than Edmonton Catholic School’s District Chaplin. When he first took on the name Catfish, he was still developing the sense of humour that characterized his later ministry. For example, during one of his first OutTrips on The Island, Catfish had to use the outhouse but the outhouse didn’t have a front door. Instead there was a shower curtain that revealed one’s feet to anyone who might wander past. As Catfish’s unfortunate luck would have it, a Camp Tour passed him while he was in the outhouse and every camper & staff saw the red rubber boots he had spray-painted for his Superman costume; revealing who was using the outhouse. One counselor even took the opportunity to point out the boots. He felt humiliated and spent the next few hours deeply troubled by the event until the Camp Director, Dave Kieser, took him aside to deliver a secret friend present. It was a picture of the outhouse with his red-superman boots poking out the bottom above which read, “even Superman needs breaks.” Dave, or Mud as we knew him, knowing the importance of humility taught Catfish many of the skills that would later be so instrumental during his ministry: like the ability and safety in laughing at one’s self.
Catfish would eventually grow to a professional teaser of himself and much of his ministry would take the form of accentuating his nerdiness, clumsiness and lack of romantic appeal. Among my first images of Catfish are a scrawny Superman and a flailing Karate-man and a hypochondriac first-aider but while they are not the most romantic images, they reflect a man who embraced himself for who he was."
"As with many stories, it begins with a woman. Her camp-name was Willow. She was my first Spirit’s Director but I remember her as a witch in, I think, a Wizard of OZ wide-game. I remember her laugh in particular and, looking back, I see Catfish’s attraction. She was lovely. I remember saying, “You’re funny Willow” and she’d reply “funny looking or funny ha ha?” It was a good joke when accompanied with Willow’s timing and warm personality. Many years later Catfish would confide in me that he met her at St. Joseph’s College on the University of Alberta Campus along with his most life-long friends: Shaun, Ray and Heather. In his words, he thought he was following his love to Camp Encounter but later realized it was there that he found his love - his vocation – which was undoubtedly was first fostered and developed at Lac La Nonne.
Obviously, things did not work out for Catfish’s romantic pursuits (and not for lack of trying). Now you have to remember our confidence matures as we get older and this was especially true for Catfish. The young man who first volunteered and later took on programming roles at Camp was a very different man than Edmonton Catholic School’s District Chaplin. When he first took on the name Catfish, he was still developing the sense of humour that characterized his later ministry. For example, during one of his first OutTrips on The Island, Catfish had to use the outhouse but the outhouse didn’t have a front door. Instead there was a shower curtain that revealed one’s feet to anyone who might wander past. As Catfish’s unfortunate luck would have it, a Camp Tour passed him while he was in the outhouse and every camper & staff saw the red rubber boots he had spray-painted for his Superman costume; revealing who was using the outhouse. One counselor even took the opportunity to point out the boots. He felt humiliated and spent the next few hours deeply troubled by the event until the Camp Director, Dave Kieser, took him aside to deliver a secret friend present. It was a picture of the outhouse with his red-superman boots poking out the bottom above which read, “even Superman needs breaks.” Dave, or Mud as we knew him, knowing the importance of humility taught Catfish many of the skills that would later be so instrumental during his ministry: like the ability and safety in laughing at one’s self.
Catfish would eventually grow to a professional teaser of himself and much of his ministry would take the form of accentuating his nerdiness, clumsiness and lack of romantic appeal. Among my first images of Catfish are a scrawny Superman and a flailing Karate-man and a hypochondriac first-aider but while they are not the most romantic images, they reflect a man who embraced himself for who he was."
Father Catfish continues to inspire all our staff, campers, and counsellors and the impact he has made at camp will last forever. He is now buried in the Our Lady of Lourdes cemetery at Camp Encounter, and is often visited by staff or old friends usually along with a can of Pepsi, or a piece of cake. In honour of him, we have renamed our Island to "Catfish Island".
