Friday Photo: Visiting Cousins

On the first two Fridays of each month, I showcase a family photo and answer the “who, what, when, where and why” of that picture. The first week’s Friday photo is taken from my side of the family and the second week’s Friday photo is chosen from my husband’s side of the family. (I got the idea for this column from Amy Coffin’s ebook The Big Genealogy Blog Book advertised on her The We Tree Genealogy Blog.)

Belair siblings with Philippe cousins

Who:
Maurice Belair (centre) with (left to right) his sisters Darlene and Joan and his brother Ray. With them are their cousins Joan (facing Darlene) and Delia Philippe (far right).

What:
My Dad Maurice and his brother and sisters pose with their cousins.

When:
About 1941 or 1942, probably late spring or early autumn. (Dad looks like he’s wearing thick socks with his boots.)

Where:
At my grandparents Fred and Julie’s home in Fauquier, Cochrane District, Ontario.

Why:
The Philippe family, who lived in Timmins, Ontario was probably on a visit to my Dad’s family. Joan and Delia’s father Joseph was my grandfather Fred’s nephew, being the son of his late sister Angélina (Belair) Philippe.

I love this photo, despite its poor shape and left-side tear. It’s small, measuring about 7 cm x 9 cm (approximately 2¾” x 3½”). The picture is one of my favorites, because it shows my father Maurice and his siblings when they were young, happy and healthy. It’s also only one of a few photos taken during the time when the family lived in Fauquier in northeastern Ontario.

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Friday Photo: Jacqueline and Her Sisters

On the first two Fridays of each month, I showcase a family photo and answer the “who, what, when, where and why” of that picture. The first week’s Friday photo is taken from my side of the family and the second week’s Friday photo is chosen from my husband’s side of the family. (I got the idea for this column from Amy Coffin’s ebook The Big Genealogy Blog Book advertised on her The We Tree Genealogy Blog.)


Jacqueline and her sisters, 1971

Who:
My Mom Jacqueline (far right) and her sisters (left to right) Mariette, Madeleine, Normande and Simone.

What:
Five sisters gathered together. (Jeanne d'arc, the youngest, is not here.)

When:
Summer of 1971.

Where:
Simone’s home in Corunna, Ontario.

Why:
I don’t know why Mom and her sisters posed for this photo. My parents didn’t travel much from our home in northeastern Ontario to southwestern Ontario where my aunts Mariette, Simone and Normande lived, so I’m not sure why Mom is in Corunna. (Maybe Dad didn’t go, and Mom travelled south with Madeleine, who also lived in northeastern Ontario.) There are four other photos in this series, but none of them seem to offer clues as to the reason for this picture. Maybe my Ontario cousins will see this photo and will let me know why the Desgroseilliers sisters were photographed in the summer of 1971.

I love this photo, because it shows my Mom with her sisters. I loved my aunts, but I didn’t often see them. (It was about an 8 hour car journey from our home in Timmins to their homes in Sarnia and Corunna.) Whenever the sisters got together, someone always took a photo or two of them, so at least I got the benefit of ‘seeing’ them in pictures if not in person.

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Friday Photo: Clementine at a funeral

On the first two Fridays of each month, I showcase a family photo and answer the “who, what, when, where and why” of that picture. The first week’s Friday photo is taken from my side of the family and the second week’s Friday photo is chosen from my husband’s side of the family. (I got the idea for this column from Amy Coffin’s ebook The Big Genealogy Blog Book advertised on her The We Tree Genealogy Blog.)



Clémentine Desgroseilliers, Blue Water, Ontario, 1948

Who:
My maternal great-grandmother Clémentine (Léveillé) Desgroseilliers (1878-1969).

What:
Clémentine Desgroseilliers posed for a photo at the time of the death and funeral of her daughter-in-law Juliette. Her eldest son Eugène Desgroseilliers was left a widower with seven children when Juliette died of cancer on 14 August 1948.

When:
The photo was taken on or about the day of Juliette’s funeral on 17 August 1948. Her obituary appeared in the local newspaper.

Where:
Presumably at Eugène’s house (not seen in the photo) in Blue Water, near Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario. One of Sarnia’s many oil refineries can be seen in the background.

Why:
Family and friends gathered for the funeral of Juliette Desgroseilliers, my maternal grandmother.

This picture is an important one in my family’s photo collection. It is a favorite of mine; not only is it a visual record of a time of sadness, it is also a record of a mother’s love and devotion for her bereaved son and his children. (Clémentine travelled from her home in northeastern Ontario to be with her son Eugène, who lived in southwestern Ontario.)

Copyright © 2013, Yvonne Demoskoff.