Wedding Wednesday: Saucier – Potvin

My Dad’s first cousin Lucille (Lou) Potvin married Joseph (Joe) Saucier on 22 June 1946, sixty-nine years ago next week. Father Fernand Faucher, a Dominican priest, officiated at the ceremony in St-Jean-Baptiste church on Empress Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario.

In the photo, Clem and Celia (Vanasse) Potvin stand next to their daughter, while Madame Victor Saucier is beside her son. Joe, who served in WWII, is wearing his army uniform.

I don’t think that my Dad and his family (his parents and his three siblings) travelled from their home in northern Ontario to attend his cousin’s wedding. (None of them appear in other photos I have seen of the wedding.)

Lou sent this photo to her cousin, my Aunt Joan (Dad’s sister). When I visited my Aunt last year, she gave me the picture; it was the first time I saw it. On the back of the photo, Lou wrote (in English and in French) in her distinctive handwriting:

Mum, Dad, Myself

& Joe & his Mum

Juin [June] 46

I don’t know the story of how Lou and Joe met, but maybe they got to know each other during the War. The Potvin family lived in Ottawa, but Joe and his family were from Cornwall, a little over an hour south of Ottawa.

My family and I visited Lou and Joe a few times where they lived in Ottawa. (Later, I visited them on my own when I was a student at the University of Ottawa.) I remember just a little bit about my first visit to their home in the summer of 1969, when their sons Ron and Dennis took me and my sister Marianne to the annual Ottawa Exhibition at Lansdowne Park.

Joe passed away in 1993 and Lou passed away in 2006. They were such nice people and I have fond memories of them.

Copyright © 2015, Yvonne Demoskoff.

Veterans' Week 2012: Relatives Who Served In WW I and WW II

I'm participating in the remembrance challenge for Veterans' Week as seen at Veterans' Affairs Canada website. This article is the second in a series I've prepared for my blog as a way of honouring the memory of my relatives and those who served Canada in times of war and peace.

Relatives Who Served in WW I and WW II

The following list features some of my relatives who served in World War I and World War II. Other, more distant relatives also served in both Wars. As far as I know, none of my ancestors (my parents, my grandparents and great-grandparents) served in either War. The only people in this list that I personally knew were my great-uncles Jean-Marie and Jean-Paul Beauvais and my father's cousin-in-law Joseph Saucier.

World War I

Name: Ovide Desgroseilliers (1884-1959)
Relationship: Ovide was my mother Jacqueline's great-uncle. He was the youngest son of Pierre and Flavie (Lepage) Desgroseilliers. Ovide married Anna Maurice in 1913 and lived in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.
Rank / Branch: Sergeant / 163rd (Canadien-Français) Battalion.
Note: Ovide also served three years in the 97th Regiment (Algonquin Rifles) during the South African War.

Name: William Vanasse (1893-1955)
Relationship: William was my father's maternal uncle. He was a younger son of Olivier and Elisabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse.
Rank / Branch: Private / Canadian Forestry Corps.
Note: I wrote about some of William's war experience here.

Name: Joseph Vanasse (1898-1973)
Relationship: Joseph was my father's maternal uncle. He was a younger son of Olivier and Elisabeth (Vanasse) Vanasse.
Rank / Branch: Private / Canadian Forestry Corps.
Note: Joseph was awarded the British War Medal.

World War II

Names: Jean-Marie Beauvais (1921-2010) and Jean-Paul Beauvais (1921-2003)
Relationship: Jean-Marie and his twin brother Jean-Paul were my mother Jacqueline's maternal uncles. They were the youngest children of Joseph and Olivine (Hotte) Beauvais.
Rank / Branch: [unknown to me]
Note: I don't believe that either Jean-Marie or Jean-Paul went overseas during World War II. Jean-Marie was posted at CFB Chilliwack, British Columbia for a time.


Jean-Marie (left) and Jean-Paul Beauvais.


Name: Ernest Belair (1919-1944)
Relationship: Ernest was a second cousin of my father Maurice Belair. He was the son of Cléoplas and Anna (Favreau) Belair, who lived in Kenora, Ontario.
Rank / Branch: Private / Lake Superior Regiment (Motor), RCIC.
Note: Ernest was killed in action on 13 October 1944 in Belgium. He is buried in the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery in Maldegem, Belgium.

Name: Marvel Milks (1925-2012)
Relationship: Marvel was my father Maurice's first cousin. She was a daughter of Frank and Cora (Vanasse) Milks, of Ottawa, Ontario.
Rank / Branch: Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS).
Note: I don't believe that Marvel served overseas during World War II.


Maurice Belair with his cousins Lucille Potvin (left) and Marvel Milks (right).

Name: Joseph Saucier (1922-1993)
Relationship: Joe was the husband of Lucille (Lou) Potvin, a first cousin of my father Maurice. Joe was the son of Victor and Rosanna (Beaupré) Saucier.
Rank / Branch: Sergeant.
Note: Joe also served in the Korean War.

Copyright © 2012, Yvonne Demoskoff.