Louis Guittat was born in Verosvres, Saône et Loire, France, on April 28, 1910 ^[1]into a farming family. He was the fourth of seven children. After his studies and a brief stint working on his family’s farm, he was inspired by a missionary cousin and entered the Seminary of Late Vocations in Fongombault where he spent some two years before making his way to the Grand Séminaire d'Autun in 1929.^[2] Following that, he spent a brief time fulfilling his military service in Morocco before deciding to continue his studies in Rue De Bac from 1933 to 1935.^[3]On July 7, 1935, he was ordained a priest and on September 15 of that year, he departed for his mission to Malaya.^[4] 

Arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Father Louis started serving at St Anthony’s Parish under the supervision of Father Hermann. There, he learned more about the culture and started to pick up some of the local languages, in particular, Tamil.^[5] In 1937, he was sent to Bagan Serai, Perak, where the community consisted of predominantly Indian Christians many of whom worked in the surrounding plantations and estates. 

In an MEP report a year later, Father Louis outlined some of the obstacles and experiences working in this parish, “Often I visited the Christians on the plantations; I encountered a lot of misery there, alas, because many have almost completely forgotten their catechism and their prayers.”^[6] He spent time instructing and re-educating the people on these plantations in prayer and worship. Around this same period, he also spent a great deal of time in the Taiping parish of St Louis and the St Maur Convent. The growing number of children attending school there led him to the conviction that a new school was necessary. In his words, “This is why with the few savings that I have been able to make, I will soon begin to build a suitable house for the catechist and the school teachers.”^[7]Education was a key component and focus throughout his mission life in Malaya and later, Malaysia. 

In 1939, after two years of carrying out pastoral duties in the Perak region, Father Louis was sent to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Klang where he worked to reach out to the scattered Tamil communities in the surrounding area and the plantations. He saw the ever growing importance of educating the children in both Christian ways and general knowledge. In 1940, the Roman Catholic Church started a boys school, St Bernadette’s, to provide education for boys regardless of race and religious affiliation. The school was renamed De La Salle Institute in 1950^[8] when it was placed under the De La Salle Brothers. In 1952, it was renamed La Salle School and still stands today as one of the oldest schools in Klang.

Father Louis remained at this parish, helping the community and acting as principal of the school throughout the entirety of the Japanese Occupation which began in December 1941. He endured being arrested, questioned, and terrorised by Japanese soldiers in January of 1942^[9] but emerged relatively free of serious harm. After World War II ended, he continued to work in Klang for a few years before making his way towards the east coast of Peninsular Malaya where some of his most impactful work would take place. 

Arriving in Kuantan in September 1949, Father Louis worked to restore and rebuild the St Thomas Chapel constructed years earlier by a Father Duvelle. Father Louis eventually ended up creating a bigger chapel that would later become the current Church of St Thomas, along with a small house for the priests and a school set up in a temporary building that he envisioned to be something bigger later.^[10]

Considered the first official parish priest of St Thomas, Father Louis worked hard to build up the parish community. In the annual MEP report from 1950, he described his progress: “These two years… were used to make contact with the Catholic and pagan population of this vast territory. I strove to bring lost sheep back to the fold, but above all to teach catechism to children and to train them in Christian life.”^[11] The school eventually went from being a temporary structure to a permanent building which was overseen with the help of the Mariste Brothers. It was later taken over by the Brothers of St Gabriel and continues to operate today despite many trials and threats of shutdown and moves.^[12]

In 1950, Father Louis made his way to Kota Bahru for a time and started  Our Lady of Fatima of the Holy Rosary Chapel which would become a full church 15 years later.^[13] He left the east coast region in 1957 when he fell ill and was first hospitalised in Singapore before returning to France to rest and recuperate.^[14]

Upon his return to Malaya, he worked closely with Bishop Dominic Vendargon in mainly administrative and secretarial duties before becoming priest at Sacred Heart Church in Kuala Lumpur until 1973, when again he found himself in poor health and decided to return to France and preach in his native village during the time of his recovery.^[15]Father Louis returned to Malaysia a few years later in August 1976 and was placed in the Banting parish.

As the author of his obituary put it, “he brings together Christians who had stopped attending church. He opens his home to young people, encourages them to study. Kindergarten kids are becoming more numerous. The small plantation on which he likes to work is a source of income. The community gains in cohesion, takes charge and shines, attracting non-Catholics. He visits, knows, and recognizes people; they are comfortable with him and consult him willingly.”^[16] 

He remained in the Banting parish until the early 1990s and finally retired in 1994 when he took up residence at the Little Sisters of the Poor.^[17] It was here that Father Louis Guittat lived out the rest of his life until his passing on September 23, 2001. At his request, his funeral and burial were carried out in Banting, the last parish he formally served.^[18] His  zeal for educating and collaborating with the plantation communities opened up opportunities for them and strengthened their faith. Father Louis Guittat’s vision and initiatives in building schools, chapels and churches had a long-lasting impact on the Christian communities in these regions.