"She showed this picture to everybody. I'm sure that every family member has that picture in their possession," said Carmen Bussiere. Her mother cooked for Donald Sutherland while he filmed 'Alien Thunder in Saskatchewan' during the early 1970s. (Submitted)

By Céline Grimard/650 CKOM

Donald Sutherland

‘To her, he was a hero’ Donald Sutherland remembered by Sask. family

Jun 28, 2024 | 12:00 PM

A local family is feeling a wave of sadness as Donald Sutherland is buried today.

In the mid-1970s, a small-town farm girl in Saskatchewan found new confidence and an understanding of herself from serving one of Canada’s most renowned actors.

Bernadette Ethier was in her early 60s when she was approached by Sutherland to act as his personal chef while he was filming 1974’s ‘Alien Thunder’ in the Bellevue Area. Sutherland played an RCMP officer, and filming took place around the province, including in Saskatoon, Battleford and Duck Lake.

“She was so thrilled, like she has never met an actor or star. And she considered herself so so privileged to have Donald Sutherland ask her to cook for for him,” said Carmen Bussiere, Ethier’s daughter.

She explained that there were very few options to eat out in the area.

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Carmen recounted how her once-isolated working mother of seven was timid and reverent of people who had professions outside of the farm life.

“So whenever my mom encounters a priest or a nun or a doctor, she was shining. She always thought that, you know?” said Bussiere.

Ethier and her husband left the farm and moved to the small French community of St. Isidore-de-Bellevue. There, they opened a small confectionery and she created a lunch counter where she filled the bellies of the village with fresh homemade goods.

“She found so much pride having people over, and they would buy coffee and she would make pies for them. And she got a lot of reward from the clients that came there,” said Bussiere.

They eventually opened a larger store, and Ethier kept her lunch counter open, as it gave her great joy and pride.

Memere, as her grandchildren referred to her, became a hit in the town as she not only interacted with Sutherland but also stored his motorcycle.

“It was a beautiful motorcycle, and everybody was just so amazed, especially the grandchildren. They were so amazed, seeing this motorcycle in my mom’s storage space,” said Bussiere.

Bussiere said it was the time Ethier spent getting to know the kind person Sutherland really was that truly made a difference in her life.

“She realized that her role, you know, as a storekeeper, as a person that serves lunch and coffee, is also very important role,” said Bussiere.

“To her, he was a hero. But he was also a very kind person, and as she got to know him she found him more like an equal, as someone who was human, and someone who was kind and listened.”

Her mother has been gone for over 25 years, yet she lives on in a photograph she used to show to everyone she could. In the photo, Sutherland – complete with the mustache he wore in his role during ‘Alien Thunder’ – smiles widely with his arm wrapped around Ethier.

“She showed this picture to everybody. I’m sure that every family member has that picture in their possession,” said Bussiere.

Sutherland met his third wife, Canadian actor Francine Racette, on the set of ‘Alien Thunder.’ Previously, he was married to Shirley Douglas, the daughter of former Saskatchewan NDP Premier Tommy Douglas.

Sutherland, who passed away last week at age 88, leaves behind five children, including actors Kiefer, Rossif and Angus Sutherland.