This funeral card is in memory of Darcy Philippe, a nephew of my paternal grandfather Fred Belair. The card measures 10.5 cm long by 5.5 cm (about 4" x 2"). It was one of the items I received from my Aunt Darlene Belair when she sent me a box of family memorabilia some years ago.
Darcy was the sixth son and seventh child of Alexis and Angélina (Belair) Philippe. He was born on 17 February 1914 in Ste-Cécile-de-Masham, Gatineau County, Quebec. He was baptised “Darcide Didace Philippe” three days later in the local parish church.
Tragically, Darcy lost his parents when he was only two years old. His young mother Angélina (she was only 32 years old) died in July 1916 in Masham, while his father Alexis died of typhoid fever a few weeks later that August. After their parents’ deaths, he and his siblings were sent to live with various family members. The youngest child, one-year-old Lorenzo (Lawrence) was adopted by family friends and took their surname. His only sister Délia later became a nun. As Sister Ste. Philippe de Neri of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception, Délia was a teacher in Rome and Cuba.
I don’t believe I ever met Darcy, but I knew some of his nieces, because they and their parents lived in Timmins, where I was from.
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