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Soeur Sourire
(October 17, 1933 - March 30, 1985) Belgium

Soeur Sourire

Dominican nun

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(a.k.a. Sister Smile, a.k.a. The Singing Nun) The Dominican nun from a Fichermont convent near Waterloo, who had a world hit around 1963 with the song Dominique, a delightful little historico-religious ballad, and other cheerful songs with religious theme. Her name was Jeanine Decker and in the convent was Sister Luc-Gabrielle. In 1966 a film was released based on her life, under the title of The Singing Nun, with Debbie Reynolds in the title role.

After the release of the movie, Sister Luc-Gabrielle left the convent and tried to maintain her recording career, this time under her real name - Jeanine Decker. She became a bit of a rebel, with singles like "Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill," a hymn to birth control. She embraced her lesbian sexuality.

With her lover, they built a school in Belgium where autistic kids could go. Despite donating almost all of the profits from her music to the Dominicans, the Belgian government decided that she owed back taxes. The Tax Department closed their school to recover the unpaid taxes relating to her songs.

Their center for autistic children had closed its doors, and they "lost all courage in the face of a losing battle with the tax people." In 1985, Jeanine Decker and her partner of 10 years, Annie Pecher, committed suicide with a drug and alcohol overdose. They were buried together.

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