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Biography
Joseph Daniel Bourque was born in River Bourgeois, Nova Scotia, to Hilaire and Ida (Sampson) Bourque. Shortly after graduating from high school, Bourque enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. He served aboard HMCS Sorel, a Flower-class corvette that was involved in protecting Allied shipping from German submarines.
Following his wartime naval service, Bourque returned to Nova Scotia and attended Dalhousie University through the Canadian Armed Forces to study dentistry, after recognizing the growing need for dental services within the military. After graduating in 1951, he provided dental care to soldiers in Moncton before their deployment to Korea. He was later deployed to Korea himself, where he served for nine months and was promoted from Second Lieutenant to Captain and then Major.
Following his service in Korea, Bourque was stationed in various locations across Canada, including Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario, as well as spending one year stationed in Germany.
Bourque retired from the military in 1966 and settled in Antigonish with his wife, Margaret, and their five children. He continued working in dentistry as a public health dentist and is believed to have been the last travelling public health dentist to serve Antigonish and Guysborough Counties. Through this work, he provided dental care to thousands of children in the area.
In 1980, Bourque retired from practicing dentistry after suffering a stroke. He and his wife later moved to their farm in Merigomish, where he lived until his death in 2010.
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