Glenbow Archives Ref. # NA-2953-1  

Dr. Edouard-Hector Rouleau was an ideal family physician—kindly, courteous to the last degree, always charitable, compassionate and self-sacrificing. His almost impetuous generosity and his dislike of ordinary business routine were typical. Willing patient ordinarily has to exercise much persistence to make it possible to pay even their long outstanding debts to him. He never refused a service; now would he take any fee for visits on the Sabbath. Obstetrics was Rouleau’s speciality, although he did general practice as well. Dr. Rouleau was obviously an educated and cultured gentleman. He was born at Isle Verte in Temisconata County, Quebec, on October 31, 1843. He graduated from Laval Normal School in 1861 then went to Nicolet College and took his medical course at Laval University medical Department, graduating in 1870. The lure of the prairies had smitten Edouard Rouleau for he settled in the hamlet of Calgary as one of its first registered practitioners in 1870.  On November 17, 1888, Dr. Rouleau was appointed Belgian Consul for the North West Territories, a position he kept until his death. The King of Belgium rewarded his services with the title. “Chevalier de l’Ordre de Leopold,” by the reason of his kindness and assistance to needy Belgian settlers in the Canadian West.  Rouleau became one of the first members of the North West territories Medical Association which was organized on August 1889. This was the forerunner of the Alberta Medical Association, now the Alberta Section of the Canadian Medical Association. He was also one of the fourteen practitioners from the present Alberta who were registered in 1889. Dr. Rouleau was Surgeon to the North West Mounted Police and retained this positioned shortly after the change in government in 1911, when he was discharged on the accepted practice of those days of political patronage. The doctor was always an ardent party follower but was never offensive or meddling. Nevertheless, the change in government meant his removal, even though he had fulfilled his duties faithfully and well for a quarter of a century and was then aged with failing health. Broken-hearted, he sought sympathy from his family and friends. He died shortly afterwards of cancer of the liver and was buried on October 1, 1912.        
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