Wedding Wednesday: Bozzer – Desgroseilliers

Jeanne d'arc and Leno

Mom’s youngest sister Jeanne d’arc Desgroseilliers married 47 years ago on 24 June 1967 in Timmins, Ontario. Her husband, Leno Bozzer, was a widower with two young children, Wayne and Suzanne, who became my step-cousins.

The ceremony took place at Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, our parish church that was a block away from our home and Aunt Joan’s home. (She lived in a basement apartment on the next street over from us.) Father Roland Yves (Cassien) Gauthier, o.f.m. cap., celebrated.

I was almost nine years old and it was the first wedding I attended.

Mom and Joan’s friend Donna (whose last name I don’t recall) were my aunt’s bridal attendants. They wore beautiful, long light pink dresses with sheer covers.

Before the wedding, Aunt Jeanne d'arc, Mom and I went to the home of the seamstress who was making Joan’s wedding gown. I don’t think we were there too long; Joan was probably checking up on how her dress was coming along.

L to R: Madeleine, Normande, Jeanne d'arc, Jacqueline and Simone

I don’t remember who came in from out of town, but from what Mom told me, and from photo evidence, her sisters Madeleine, Simone and Normande, including some of their children, were there. Mom also reminded me that her aunt Flavie, her father’s only surviving sister, stayed at our house that weekend. I guess my younger sister Marianne and I must have bunked together in one room (we each had our own bedroom and twin bed), but I don’t have any memories of that.

I don’t know who brought the confetti, but I made sure I got a hold of some. I had lots of fun covering my aunt and new uncle with those multi-coloured paper dots as they came out of the church.

Jeanne d'arc and Leno showered in confetti

The last memory I have of my aunt’s wedding is of the reception. It was held at the Empire Hotel (now an apartment complex) at the corner of Algonquin Boulevard and Spruce Street South, probably the best hotel in town at the time. The dinner and dance were in the large reception room on the ground floor facing the front street. During the meal, I heard cutlery clicking on the drinking glasses. I couldn’t figure out why that kept happening, but every time it did, my aunt and uncle kissed and the guests applauded. After the meal, Marianne and I and some of our cousins played in the elevator. We made it go up and down the 3 or 4 floors of the building. (It must have been the first time I’d been in an elevator.) No one seemed to mind or at least my partners-in-crime and I didn’t take any notice.

Sadly, Uncle Leno passed away in February 1985. Aunt Joan survived him and still lives in Timmins.

Copyright © 2014, Yvonne Demoskoff.