Jacques Duckert who born on April 25, 1923, had a nomadic side. He moved very often, sometimes in the same locality. But everywhere he knew how to create networks of friendship and he always maintained them by correspondence and visits.
He met his wife, Margrit, at the Emmaus Institute; they made their faith commitment to Moral Re-Armament/Initiative of Change concrete in Caux. They helped transform a hotel into a place to stay and hold conferences. Jacques is a cabinetmaker by training and has put his know-how at the service of his commitment. For health reasons, they had to move to Biel where he finally found the explanation for his attacks of pain...
The death of his wife in Biel was a hard blow, followed a few years later by the death of their son, Jean-Marc. After a period in Bussigny, he got closer to his daughter, Jenny-Anne, by moving to L'Auberson. A new network was created, in the parish, at the café contact. Everywhere he gave his friendship. I still remember his simultaneous translation of the service for asylum seekers in the region.
Jacques Duckert was also a man of many gifts. In the early days of Caux, he devoted a great deal of time and energy to making it a functional meeting place. The aim was to transform the former 'Caux-Palace' into a place where a new Europe could be built, where people who were enemies could meet, be reconciled and start afresh.
One of his most important tasks was to build a commissary and a modern kitchen with the capacity to feed the tens of thousands of participants who came from all over the world. The biggest challenge was getting the food when rationing was still in effect in 1946. Suppliers in the area had to be found with hte large quantities of food needed to feed such a large number of people.
For several decades, Jacques, together with his wife Margrit, has dedicated himself to this task, along with a whole brigade of men and women from all over the world. For many of us, it was a privilege to work alongside him.
Jacques suffered from very painful migraines, but despite this he was always in a good mood and never lost his sense of humor.
He passed away on April 13, 2008.
