Another death in L'Itineraire's family

>> Marie-France Dionne (1966-1999)

by JOHN EDMONDS

When Marie-France Dionne died on New Year's Eve, she became the fifth person associated with the homeless magazine L'Itineraire to die in 1999. The 32 year old was a cook at the Cafe sur la rue, which is overseen by the same organization that publishes the magazine. In her two years working there she only missed two days of work.

"It's a tragedy," says L'Itineraire's Eric Cimon. "She always had a smile, and the ability to liven up any situation. Her death creates a big hole with us and with her family."

Dionne and her friend Alain Milette had decided to stay home on New Year's Eve. They died in an apartment fire.

Friends were not notified of her death for nearly four days, Cimon says. They hoped she was simply missing until they were called to identify her body at the morgue. "It was very hard for the group here to deal with that uncertainty."

According to Cimon there are no links between the five L'Itineraire-associated deaths. All died of natural causes except for Jean-Pierre Lizotte, the homeless man and L'Itineraire carrier who died a month after eyewitnesses saw him get brutally beaten by police in front of the Shed Cafe on St-Laurent in September.

Funeral services for Dionne were held last Wednesday. : --Craig Segal

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