Frank Dumont, 97, of Hudson, Québec, died peacefully on July 1, 2026. He was the beloved husband of Rita D. (Gagnon), to whom he was married for 56 years.
Frank, baptized Florent, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 9, 1928, the eldest son of Florent Dumont of Montreal, Québec and Cecile Ruel of Springfield, Massachusetts. He grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and at age 17, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. During that enlistment, he received two independent appointments to the U.S. Naval Academy. He declined both, choosing instead to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Columbia College in New York City. He later earned a Master of Science in psychology from Southern Connecticut State College and a Doctor of Education from the University of Massachusetts.
He did brief stints at the Public National Bank and Trust Company of New York and at a subsidiary of Continental Oil Company, where he worked as a surveyor in western Wyoming and eastern Utah. This period was followed by a year of studies in Paris, France.
Frank spent a decade in the 1960s in the Montfort Missionaries community. During those years he co-established an ecumenical center in Connecticut and served as a liaison for the Archdiocese of Hartford with the Hartford Seminary Foundation and Berkeley Divinity School of Yale University. He gave talks on the topic of religious reconciliation at churches, synagogues, and civic forums throughout New England.
Concerned about American involvement in the Vietnam War, he co-founded a chapter of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam in collaboration with literary critic and author Francine du Plessix Gray, his good friends Clifford Laube and Aldo Ghisalbert, and other influential members of the American journalistic, literary, and artistic world. In 1969, he joined the New Careers anti-poverty program at the University of Hartford as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiative.
Frank served on the staff of the University of Hartford and subsequently left for a teaching position at the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick. In 1972, he was appointed to the Faculty of Education/Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research of McGill University. He served as chair of the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and in 1984 he was promoted to professor. He served as director of the department’s EdD and PhD programs in counselling psychology. He taught, conducted research, and published in various venues such as encyclopedias, books and book chapters, reference works, and professional psychology journals. He was the co-editor of Six Therapists and One Client and co-editor of The Dictionary of Psychology with Ray Corsini.
Frank was appointed Professor Emeritus at McGill upon his retirement in 2006. He served as a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge (2005-2006) and was a member of the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Montreal. During that year he researched and drafted A History of Personality Psychology, one of his proudest writing achievements.
Frank had a remarkable exuberance and love of life, learning, and engaging in deep conversations with family, friends, students, and colleagues. He was always up for good banter and laughs. His greatest joy came from cherished time with his wife, children, grandchildren, his dog Paddington, and the natural world. His love for travel and adventure brought him around the world and enabled him to engage with many academic collaborators. In 1978, he and his young family spent a memorable year in the Languedoc region of France. Yet he was happiest at home in the house he built with his parents and siblings in Hudson, Québec.
In addition to his wife, Frank is survived by his daughters, Rachel A. Dumont of Portland, Oregon, and Caroline R. Dumont and her husband Brian of North Haven, Connecticut; his son, Marc G. Dumont and his wife Marcela of Winchester, England; and his sister, Marilyn Dumont-Driscoll and her husband Dan of Gainesville, Florida. He leaves seven grandchildren: Cecile, Risa, Mae, Seth, Beatrice, Emma, and Matilda, as well as one nephew, five nieces, eight grandnephews, and two grandnieces. Frank was predeceased by his parents and his brothers, Roger and Arthur.
According to Frank’s wishes, no funeral will be held. He was laid to eternal rest at Cimetière Saint-Thomas d'Aquin in Hudson, Québec.
In honor of Frank’s love of wildlife, memorial gifts may be sent to the Canadian Wildlife Federation.
