By early 1971 she was living with her son Mark, 8, and 17-month-old daughter Kelle, daughter of Michael Howlett, on the second floor at 2274 Souvenir Street near Atwater and Dorch.
Marcia had recently appeared at the Centaur in a play called The Electronic Nigger.
She went up to Ste. Adele for a day or so, entrusting her two young handfuls to Monique, who also had her own kid with her while babysitting the two.
Monique came recommended by Marcia's friend Andre.
At 4 a.m. on Sunday 2 May 1971 an arsonist set a four-alarm blaze in the shed out back of 2276/2280 Souvenir.
Monique the babysitter suddenly had three children to drag out of the conflagration, her own as well as Kelle and her older brother, who was very hard to rouse.
She could only get two out on the first try, leaving 17-month old Kelle alone in the fiery apartment.Firefighters apparently told Monique that it would be too dangerous to try to rush in to save 17-month-old Kelle and they did not venture inside to get her.
However Marcia's friend Andre happened to be at the scene by some coincidence, as he had spent the evening in the company of a casual girlfriend across the street.Andre was undeterred by the warning and rushed up the stairs into the raging fire.
He grabbed baby Kelle and rushed out.
Kelle suffered minor burns to the hands and face and was treated at the nearby Children's Hospital but recovered fully.
Kelle now lives in Vancouver and would very much like to find the heroic André who risked his life to save her.
She offers this account:
"Monique tried to get me out. She had her baby under one arm and me in the other and my brother who is 7 years older slept like the dead. She had to put me down and drag him out. Andre ran over asking where I was and when the firemen said it's too late for me he ran in. This is what I was told," says Kelle Majklen.The firefighters report makes no mention of Andre, instead crediting the station chief of Section 16, Louis Gervais, (28 July 1921- 6 July 1985) with saving the child.
Neighbours listed in the 1971 Lovells directory might be of service helping identify the mysterious hero. They include Terry Quinn, Y, Troughton, A.Waugh, M. Mallich, P. Bennett. M. Muir, P. Sutherland, L. Estrick and others.
Other residents include the now-deceased French-born poet Patrick Straram and Bavarian-born cameraman Uwe Koneman, who cannot remember anything. Two other elderly longtime residents of Souvenir said that they couldn't recall the fire.
If anybody has an idea please let us know in the comments below or by other means.
Many thanks to the awesome Montreal fire expert Jean François Courtemanche for helping with this investigation.