Soeur Sourire(1933-1985)

Soeur Sourire ("Sister Smile") a.k.a. the Singing Nun, was born Jeanine Deckers on October 17, 1933, in Belgium. She attended art school as a young girl, while also developing her musical talents. Jeanine learned to sing and play, and write her own songs. She was not from a close-knit family, and even though Jeanine said she was not against marriage, she was more at home with convent life. In the 1950s she joined a Dominican convent and (as was a custom in some religious orders) she abandoned her real name and chose a new one: Sister Luc-Gabrielle. She sang and played guitar for church groups. Eventually, Philips Record Co. discovered her, and signed her to a contract (with her profits being donated to her Order, since had taken a vow of poverty). Sister Luc adopted the stage name Soeur Sourire ("Sister Smile"). In 1963, she wrote "Dominique" (a tribute to the founder of her Dominican order), which was her one big hit. She won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel music that year. A taped version of her singing that song was broadcast on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964 (the same year the Beatles appeared on his show). MGM turned her life into a syrupy movie _Singing Nun, The (1965)_ starring Debbie Reynolds in the titular role, and Soeur Sourire wrote most of the songs. It was perhaps more publicity than she wanted, that same year the Singing Nun stopped performing music, preferring to concentrate on her studies in the convent. A year later she left the convent and resumed her singing career; she changed her name to Luc Dominique, combining her religious name and her hit song. By the late 1960s, her songs had controversial themes. She joined with a woman, Annie Pescher, and together they owned and operated a school for autistic children. In the 1980s, the Belgian government said that the Singing Nun owed over $60,000 in back taxes, on money she had earned during her singing career while a nun. She had donated all her proceeds to the convent, but the Belgian government said she owed the money nonetheless. In 1985, Luc Dominique and Annie Pescher killed themselves in a suicide pact. The Singing Nun will be remembered by this song... "Dominique, nique, nique, Over the land he plods along, And sings a little song. Never asking for reward, He just talks about the Lord, He just talks about the Lord."