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Paul
I BERNIER
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Délia MEILLEUR
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naissance 18
décembre 1921 à
St-Jean-Baptiste
MB,
décès 21 août
2004 à Fisher Branch MB, "peacefully at
home at the age of 82 years after a
lengthy illness",
funérailles 26 à
Immaculate Conception Roman
Catholic Church in Fisher Branch MB (nécrologies).
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naissance 4
janvier 1924 à Fisher Branch MB,
p/m
Moïse Meilleur & Délia Pépin,
décès 29
octobre 2016 à
Percy E. Moore Hospital, Fisher
Branch MB, âge :
92 ans, "surrounded
by family, after a lengthy illness",
funérailles
4 novembre à
Immaculate Conception Church, Fisher
Branch MB, sépulture
5 au
Immaculate Conception Cemetery,
Fisher Branch MB (nécrologies).
Père :
Ovila
(Ovide) MEILLEUR
Mère : Zéphérina
GAUTHIER
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Marié(e)
2 juillet 1945 à l'église
Immaculée-Conception, Fisher
Branch MB, par rév. Léo Marchand,
16
enfants (9 fils, 7 filles).
1.1. Gérald Paul
BERNIER, naissance
21 décembre 1946 à
St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, p/m
Joseph Bernier &
Corinne Grégoire, résidence à Winnipeg MB.
Marié(e) 25 mars 1972 à Fisher Branch MB par
rév.
Hilaire
Gagné o.m.i., Susan Ann ACHRAMOWICZ,
naissance 16 septembre
1952
à Winnipeg MB, (fille de Jan ACHRAMOWICZ et Anne
ANNYCZ). 2
enfants.
1.2. André
Rénald
BERNIER,
naissance 24 novembre 1947 à St.
Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg
MB, p/m Ovila Meilleur &
Zéphérina Gauthier, décès 11 juillet
2012 à Bethesda Hospital in
Steinbach MB, âge : 64 ans,
"peacefully, surrounded by family
and friends after a lengthy illness",
funérailles 17 à Notre
Dame de Lorette Parish in Lorette MB (nécrologie).
Marié(e) 20 mai
1972 à
Winnipeg MB, Lynne Winnifred Ada
CAITHNESS,
naissance 22 juillet 1948 à St.
Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg
MB (fille de James Martin JEAN
et Louise BRIGG).
4
enfants.
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1.3. Lionel Maurice
BERNIER,
naissance 28 février 1949 à St. Boniface General
Hospital,
Winnipeg MB, p/m Maurice Meilleur & Alma
Bernier, résidence
à Lorette MB. Marié(e) 5 mai 1973 à Fisher
Branch MB par rév.
Hilaire
Gagné o.m.i., Patricia Marcella VERMETTE,
naissance 11
février
1951 à St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg
MB, (fille de
Roland
VERMETTE et Fernande CADOTTE).
1.4. Claude I Roger
BERNIER,
naissance 5 mars 1950 à Hunter Memorial
Hospital, Teulon MB, p/m
Roger Bernier & Éva Meilleur, résidence à
Lorette MB. Marié(e) 28 octobre 1972 à Fisher
Branch MB, par rév.
Hilaire
Gagné o.m.i., Evonne Freda WILSON,
naissance 7 mars 1955,
(fille
de John George WILSON et Freda John COCHRANE). 3
enfants.
1.5. David Aurèle
BERNIER, naissance
9 juin 1951 à Red Cross
Hospital, Fisher Branch MB, p/m Auray Meilleur
& Simonne Bernier,
résidence à Winnipeg MB. Marié(e) 7 juin 1975 à
Fisher Branch MB par rév.
Hilaire
Gagné o.m.i., Darlene STAWYCHNY,
naissance 11 mai 1955
à
Fisher Branch Hospital MB, (fille de Henry
STAWYCHNY et Ann TYCHOLIS). 3 fils.
1.6. Paulette Anne
BERNIER,
naissance 19 octobre 1952 à Red Cross Hospital,
Fisher Branch MB,
p/m Émery
Meilleur & Léontine Carrière, résidence
à
Rossburn MB. Marié(e) 23 juin 1973 à Fisher
Branch MB par rév.
Hilaire
Gagné o.m.i., Jack Steven MANN,
naissance 10 mars 1953
à
Teulon MB, (fils de Arthur MANN et Mabel KUTZ).
4 filles.
1.7. Marie
BERNIER,
naissance 29 novembre 1953 à Fisher Branch MB,
décès 29
novembre 1953 à Fisher Branch MB. "She was
discovered to have
suffered from hydrocephaly (water head) baby".
1.8. Jocelyne Diana
BERNIER,
naissance 2 janvier 1956 à Fisher Branch
Hospital MB, p/m
René Rivard
& Lucie Cormier, résidence à Goshen IN.
(2) Marié(e) 16 juillet 1988 à Goshen IN, Jon
Earl SLOUGH,
naissance 2 juillet 1956. Fils de Mrs
LELAND.
1.9. Carmelle Claudette
Thérèse
BERNIER, naissance
14 mars 1957 à Red Cross
Hospital,
Fisher Branch MB, p/m Ernest Meilleur &
Thérèse
LeTexier.
(2) Marié(e) 2 février 1980 à Fisher Branch MB
par
rév.
Denis Bourbonnais o.m.i., Clifford James
STODGELL, naissance 6
mai
1954, (fils de James Henry STODGELL et Beatrice
STAPLETON). 2 enfants.
1.10. Noëlla Marcella
Collette
BERNIER, naissance
20 décembre 1958 à
Red
Cross Hospital, Fisher Branch MB, p/m Alder
Raymond & Léa
Meilleur,
résidence à Minneapolis MN.
(1) Marié(e) 24 février 1979 à Fisher Branch MB
par
rév.
Denis Bourbonnais o.m.i., Larry James
BAZILEWICH, (fils de John
BAZILEWICH
et Helen WALASHEK). 2 enfants.
(2) Marié(e) 27 novembre 1994 à Winnipeg MB, Brian
RUDGE,
naissance 26 mars 1968 à Grace General Hospital,
Winnipeg MB,
(fils
de Richard RUDGE et Heather GREEN).
1.11. Marc Edgar Albert
BERNIER, naissance
9 mars 1960 à St.
Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, p/m
Alcide Meilleur &
Jeanne Fortier, résidence à Winnipeg MB.
Marié(e) 29 juillet 1989 à Fisher Branch MB par
rév.
Deacon
Robert Giasson, Joyce MEILLEUR,
naissance 4 mai 1963, (fille
de Régis
Réginald MEILLEUR et Lucy VANDERSTEEN).
Marc
Bernier
et Joyce Meilleur sont cousins issus de germains
ayant comme
ancêtre
commun Thaddée II Meilleur. 2 fils.
1.12. Nicole
Yvette
BERNIER, naissance 20 mars 1961 à St.
Boniface General
Hospital, Winnipeg MB, p/m Léo Lagassé &
Amanda
Meilleur, résidence à Winnipeg MB. Marié(e)
23 juin 1984 à Fisher
Branch MB par rév.
Denis
Bourbonnais o.m.i., Ronald GAGALUK,
naissance 9 juin 1962, (fils
de
Walter GAGALUK et Josie (Josephine) WLADYKA). 2
enfants.
1.13.
Paul
II Yves BERNIER, naissance 20 mars
1961
à
St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg
MB, p/m Antonio Bouchard &
Yvonne Labbé, résidence à Fisher Branch
MB.
Conjoint(e) Helen ____. |
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1.14. Laurent
Albert
BERNIER, naissance 14 août 1962 à Memorial
Hospital,
Arborg MB, p/m Albert Meilleur & Jeanne
Pépin,
résidence à Winnipeg MB. Marié(e) 2 juin
1990 à Fisher Branch MB
par rév.
Deacon
Robert Giasson, Linda Ann STAPLETON,
naissance 26 février
1964
à Winnipeg MB, (fille de Wilfred STAPLETON et
Elizabeth
FORESTIER).
1.14.1. Sean
Edward BERNIER, naissance
6
juillet 1994 à Women's Pavilion, Winnipeg MB.
1.15.
Richard
Émile Victor BERNIER, naissance 28
janvier 1964 à Grace General Hospital,
Winnipeg MB, p/m Richard
Myers & Juliette Meilleur, résidence
à New Bothwell
MB.
Il a épousé Diane PELLETIER,
(fille de Alexandre
PELLETIER
et Simone Marie CHARTIER). |
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1.16. Michelle Cynthia
Rachelle
BERNIER, naissance
10 août 1966 à Red
Cross
Hospital, Fisher Branch MB, p/m David Mann &
Denise Meilleur,
résidence
à Fisher Branch MB. Marié(e) 9 septembre
1989 à Fisher Branch MB par
rév.
Deacon
Robert Giasson, Terrence Murray TRUTHWAITE,
naissance 22
août
1965 à Memorial Hospital, Arborg MB, (fils de
Robert TRUTHWAITE
et
Anne O'MALLEY).
1.16.1. Branden
Sean TRUTHWAITE,
naissance
20 octobre 1995 à Victoria General Hospital,
Winnipeg MB.
Paul Édouard
BERNIER
& Délia MEILLEUR
Paul, eldest son of Joseph Bernier and
Corinne
Grégoire, was born on December 18, 1921, in
St. Jean-Baptiste,
Manitoba. In June of 1932, after finishing
his fourth grade in French,
he moved to
Fisher Branch, Manitoba, with his parents.
Although he was only ten
years
of age, he drove a team of horses from St.
Jean-Baptiste to Fisher
Branch,
travelling 150 miles through Winnipeg, Gimli
and Arborg.
While passing through Winnipeg, young Paul
developed stomach cramps
after
having eaten home canned meat that had
soured along the way. Mr.
Bernier
had warned his brother Osias and Paul of the
consequences if they ate
the
meat. With the voracious appetite of a ten
year-old boy, Paul ate his
fill
as he thought it tasted alright. But Alas!
When it started affecting
him,
Paul blacked over with cramps. Where does
one go when on Main Street in
Winnipeg in 1932? Hurry! Hurry! Behind the
nearest clump of fully
bloomed
lilacs in front of a house, just past the
subway, north of the C.P.
Station,
was his only choice. There was no time for
hesitation, luckily for him,
the occupants apparently were not at home.
Paul vividly remembers both Roger and
himself climbing the big spruce
trees
by their house on Sundays when visitors
called. They would not come
down
until the company left. They were both shy
then and decided they were
too
poorly dressed to be seen. Little did they
know at that time, everyone
was
in the same situation, the depression missed
no one!
Hard work and
determination,
both at school and at home, was their only
recourse against the
depression.
After school, Paul and Roger would help
their father clear land with
axes
and grub hoes. Spruce and poplar trees were
severed at the roots, then
pulled down and out of the soil by a team of
rugged horses. A breaking
plow
pulled by five horses, broke the soil at a
rate of only one acre a day.
The first twenty acres plowed, stretched
almost a half mile in an
east-west
direction. Paul's home is currently situated
on part of that original
strip.
Hard work and long hours did not put a
damper on the good time they
enjoyed
at those all-night neighbouring parties. The
parties were attended by
both
parents and teenagers, with plenty to eat
and a good supply of home
brew.
As he grew older, Paul would participate at
the parties by taking turns
playing
music. He played the violin and Roger
accompanied him on the guitar.
Paul grew up with an eye for the girls,
especially for the one who sat
in the second pew in front of him in church
every Sunday (in those
days,
families occupied the pew which bore their
name) that is until one day
in January of 1943, when at the age of
twenty one, he left to join the
army.
From Winnipeg, he went to Cornwall, Ontario,
for basic training as a
gunner
in tile artillery. He was later stationed in
Winnipeg and coincidently
(or
was it) the girl front the second pew was
also working in Winnipeg.
The romance blossomed and on July 2, 1945,
one
month after Victory in Europe, Paul Bernier
married Delia Meilleur,
daughter of Ovila Meilleur and Zépherina
Gauthier. For one year,
they resided
at 216 Garry Street, Winnipeg, where the
Post Office now stands.
After V.E. Day, Paul signed up for two years
of occupational duty in
Germany
and while waiting to be sent overseas, an
illness put him in hospital
for
three months instead. Disappointed, he asked
for his discharge, which
he
received dated June 26, 1946. He then
returned to the farm he first
came
to in 1932. But how he missed his comrades
and the public life! Three
years
later, in 1949, he once again found
comradeship when he joined the
Royal
Canadian Legion, Branch 158, and has been an
active member since. He is
also a charter member of the Fisher Branch
Council of the Knights of
Columbus.
In 1946, we became the proud parents of a
son ;
the first of sixteen children.
Unfortunately, one child Marie was lost. The
year of 1953 was a sad one. I was expecting
my seventh child at the
beginning of the new year when at the end of
September, a minor fall
broke the water on my "hydrocephalic" baby's
head, I knew that I was
carrying, a dead baby from that day onwards.
After two long months, on
November 29, 1953, this baby was stillborn.
To the surprise of the
doctor, the baby girl was very normal and
nothing seemed to be wrong! I
had placed myself under the protection of
the Blessed Virgin Mary,
therefore, the baby was not decomposed as so
often happens, and there
was no need for a D & C (Dilatation and
Curettage).
Another particularly difficult time occurred
when I came home after
delivering
our eighth child, Carmelle. She was only
eight days old when all eight
children developed whooping cough ill March
of 1957. Paul and I took
turns
caring for the children. Between "blue
spells" and vomiting, it's a
wonder
all of them survived. Unfortunately, shortly
thereafter, they all fell
ill
to red measles in July and then the Asian
Flu ill November. They had
been
sick for almost a full year! Gerald, at ten
years old said, "Mom, how
many
more diseases are we going to have." The
Good Lord was definitely
watching
over us.
Despite these earlier hardships, all fifteen
children flourished.
Needless
to say, we always had a house full! We had
children in school for
thirty-one
consecutive years. In addition, we took care
of my mother and Paul's
father
in succession for over eight years, with as
many as seven children
still
living at home. There sure wasn't anytime to
laze around. I was baking
12 loaves of bread every other day and going
through 200 pounds of
flour
a month, when we had 10 children in school,
of which 6 were teenagers.
As well, I washed clothes every other day,
and every day after the
twins
were born, with plenty of scrubbing by hand.
Like my mom used to say,
"No
matter how poor you are, there's no excuse
for dirt" Also, I was
recycling,
long before the word was used. My children
used to say, "You're so
cheap".
Now, it's called "recycling". As well, I
sewed all their clothing,
without
benefit of patterns. Unlike today, these
clothes lasted for years,
unfortunately
for the youngest children who were always
wearing "hand-me-downs".
I am also a self taught knitter who learned
the basics from my mother
at 7 years of age and learned to crochet on
my own at 15. In 1994, in
California's
Indio Date Festival, I won 1st prize for a
knitted lady's sweater and
2nd
prize for a crocheted baby set. I still
enjoy these crafts, reading,
gardening,
travelling, and of course, our grown
children and grandchildren.
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de
gauche à
droite
:
David - Marc
- André - Paulette
- Claude
- Carmelle - Laurent -
Jocelyne - Gérald - Délia
et
Paul - Michelle - Richard
- Nicole - Lionel - Noëlla
- Paul jr.
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In July of 1985, the
children got
together
to celebrate our 40th (Ruby) Wedding
Anniversary with a splendid party.
Much
to our surprise, they also gave us a set
of luggage and a paid trip to
Australia
to visit a pen pal, Isabel Nordin. She and
I had been corresponding
since
1938. Though that was our first overseas
travel, it was by no means our
last.
However, we did travel Canada in the last
couple years with a memorable
trip
to the Northwest Territories, Yukon and
Alaska in June and July of
1994.
We also have spent the last ten winters in
Southern California, as we
find
Manitoba's weather too severe.It wasn't
always that easy. In 1961, Paul
was stricken with a kidney ailment and had
a deformed kidney surgically
removed.
He also spent two
months
in hospital for the same kidney problem in
the spring of 1946 while he
was
still in the army. Interestingly, there is
one grandchild that also
seems
to have the same affliction.More recently,
in October 1994, Paul was
hospitalized for a full month after having
a heart attack which
resulted in surgery
for a quadruple by-pass. He recuperated
well after his surgery on
November
2nd, and by December 30th, he was back in
Palm Springs for our annual
reprieve. Paul still enjoys playing cards,
travelling, fishing and
hunting.
He has been a retired farmer for some
years now but still gives a
helping
hand to Paul Jr. on the farm. On a final
note, we celebrated our 50th
(Golden Jubilee) Anniversary on
July 8, 1995, with many friends, relatives
and family. This family has
now grown to 58, including 29
grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. We
have
truly been Blessed, as we all now enjoy
good health and happiness.
__________________
Written by Delia Bernier
Dated February 1, 1996
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Recherche et
photos par
Simonne Bernier Meilleur, de Fisher
Branch MB
Mise à jour le 7
novembre 2016 par Paul
Meilleur, de Ste-Adèle QC
Retour à la Généalogie des MEILLEUR
Retour à la Généalogie des BERNIER
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Rubrique
nécrologique
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