Born in 1931 to the west of Quebec City, Claude became a high profile, respected Quebec journalist, author and photographer, who began his career in Trois-Rivières and Chicoutimi, but was best known as a political correspondent for Quebec City’s daily newspaper, Le Soleil, where he worked for 35 years.
Claude’s adventurous spirit led this francophone Quebecer to become one of four Canadians chosen to be the first members of a special pioneering group of journalists known as Southam Fellows. Based at Massey College, Claude was joined in 1962-63 by Stephen Franklin of Weekend Magazine, William Gold of the Calgary Herald and Andrew Macfarlane of the Toronto Telegram. Thanks to these Southam Fellowships, all four journalists were able to take a year off work to study — free of charge — any subject they chose at the University of Toronto.
Subsequent to his year of studies in Toronto, Tessier’s wide ranging curiosity was recognized by editors who sent him to report in 1965 on Pope Paul VI’s visit to the United Nations in New York, as well as to describe the state of the Amazon rivers and forests in Brazil, plus numerous scientific and spacial breakthroughs such as that of well know Canadian astronaut, Marc Garneau, and even authorizing Claude to write a pioneering series on the Arctic.
After a life of travels, reporting on such organizations as NORAD and NASA, Claude was the winner of numerous awards and medals. He was also invited to Toronto in 2022 to be the guest of honor at the 60th anniversary of the William Southam Journalism Fellowship program where he participated enthusiastically in several special events organized around the well attended gala dinner on April 23.
Claude was predeceased by his wife, Thérése and his younger son, Luc. He is survived by his older son, Éric, a Montreal architect, his brothers Roger, Yves,and Norman plus his sister Marielle.
