Brother Kenneth Robert Ouellette was born in Fort Kent, ME on April 16, 1933, the son of Ned and Leda Ouellette. He studied at St. Joseph’s Prep, the Marist Brothers’ Juniorate in Tyngsboro, MA, and upon graduating entered the Marist Postulancy at St. Ann’s Hermitage in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1949. He entered the Marist Brothers Novitiate in 1950 and made his first profession of vows in 1951. After first profession, he did his scholasticate at Marist College in Poughkeepsie and graduated with a BA in Education in 1954.
Brother Kenneth began his teaching career in 1955 at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, MA. In 1958 he was assigned to St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, NY and remained there for the next sixty years. During his tenure at St. Mary’s, he served as a teacher, a guidance counselor, assistant athletic director, and athletic director. Under his leadership numerous athletic teams were established (including the school’s hockey program) and countless championships were won, including many New York state titles.
He professed his final vows as a Marist Brother in 1956 and obtained an MA in history with a minor in guidance from St. John’s University in 1962. Brother Ken happily worked every summer at Camp Marist in Center Ossippee, New Hampshire from 1963 until 2018. He held many positions at Camp Marist including camp director, counselor, and CIT director. This international camp flourished under his tenure as director and continues to provide young people with “the best summer of their lives.”
In 2018, Brother Ken retired to the Marist Brothers’ community at Champagnat Hall in the Bronx, NY, where he remained until shortly before his death at Calvary Hospital on September 10, 2022.
He is survived by his sister, Maureen, his nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, as well as his fellow Marist Brothers and many close friends.
"Oh, what consolation we have, when about to appear before God, to remember that we have lived in the favor of Mary, and in her own Society." – St. Marcellin Champagnat
