Death Of Dionne Quin

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32235, 2 March 1970, Page 2

Death Of Dionne Quin

I (N.Z.P.A.Reuter —Copyright) MONTREAL, March 1. Marie Dionne Houle, frailest of the Dionne quintuplets whose birth made headlines round the world 35 years ago, died depressed and alone ir. her apartment in the seedy east end of Montreal. The body of Marie, the smallest of the quins, whose weight at birth was lib Boz, and whose survival amounted to a medical miracle in 1934, lay in the Montreal city morgue last night. Tomorrow doctors will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of her death, the latest in a series of personal tragedies which have marred the lives of the i children the world watched grow up. Marie was the second of the quins to die. She was found dead in bed on Friday and newspapers outside the apartment indicated that she had ;been dead since Monday, i Neighbours said they had last seen her last Sunday People close to the family said that Marie had been depressed since separating from her husband in 1966. 1 Last year she placed her two daughters. Emilie, aged nine and Monique, aged seven, in a foster home run by nuns. No Phone Call Her body was found after her sister, Annette, who also ! lives in Montreal, became eon-

cerned when Marie failed to telephone her as usual. Annette’s busband, Germain Allard, went to the apartment with Marie’s physician and a policeman. When no-one answered the door, they broke a pane of glass and forced it open. The Dionne qmns—Annette. Cecile, Yvonne, Emilie and Marie—were born on their I parents’ farm at Callander, [ Ontario, on May 28. 1934, and j were thrust immediately into the international limelight. I Public interest brought! them a fortune estimated at ! 8342,880, before they were; five years old and the On-i ;tario Government made them wards of the court to protect 1 them from exploitation. ; For the first 19 years they, i grew up playing and studying! together. Entered Convent Marie was the first one to ; leave the family home when! she entered a convent in Que-1 : bee. taking the name of Sister! I Marie Rachel, but less than 1 ! a. year later, in poor health: land homesick, she left. ■ A few months later she! entered a Montreal college 1 with Annette, but within [ three months was forced to leave, again because of poor health. A year later, in 1955. Marie' returned to the convent, but; after two months ill health! again forced her to leave. In August, 1958, Marie was married to Florian Houle, a provincial government official, in a secret ceremony in Montreal, but after eight years they separated.

Emilie, the fifth quin, died of suffocation on August 6, 1954, after an epileptic seizure. Cecile, now a part-time nurse, has been separated from her husband since 1957. She lives in Quebec City with her four children. A fifth child died seven years ago, aged 15 months. Annette, who was closest! to Marie, was married in 1957! after studying music in Mont-' real. Still Single The fifth quin, Yvonne, who like Cecile trained as a nurse, [has never married. Annette’s husband, who has; acted as spokesman for the! quins, said they had remained! very close over the years,! iboth to each other and to. ! their six other brothers and I sisters. Their parents, now ini ! their 60s, still live on the! farm where the quins were! 'born.