Marié(e) 25 juin 1947 à l'église Immaculée-Conception de Fisher Branch MB, par rév. Aubin,

13 enfants (8 fils, 5 filles).

25 juin 2005 De gauche à droite : Guy & Kathe, Gilbert & Debbie, Roland & Dorina, Raymond & Valerie, Jeannette & Jameel, Laurette & Ted, Eva, Rolande & Bob, Monique & Stuart, Suzanne & Cam, Denis & Brenda, Alain & Lorene, René & Janet, Léo & Susan

1.1. Raymond Roger BERNIER, naissance 20 mars 1948 à St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, résidence à Fisher Branch MB. Marié(e) 8 avril 1972 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., Valérie Louise VALCOURT, naissance 1er juin 1952 à St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, (fille de Gilles VALCOURT et Marie BRIÈRE). 4 enfants.

1.2. Gilbert Alcide BERNIER, naissance 5 décembre 1949 à St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, résidence à Winnipeg MB. Marié(e) 19 avril 1975 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., Deb (Deborah) Ann PETO, naissance 29 août 1955 à Winnipeg MB, (fille de Ellis PETO et Terry ALLARY). 2 enfants.

1.3. Roland Paul BERNIER, naissance 30 mars 1951 à St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, résidence à Fisher Branch MB. Marié(e) 12 mai 1979 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Denis Bourbonnais o.m.i., Donna Lynn HNATIUK, naissance 13 septembre 1958 à Winnipeg MB, (fille de John HNATIUK et Joyce WILLIAMS). 2 enfants.

1.4. Rolande Simonne BERNIER, naissance 30 mars 1951 à St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, résidence à Lorette MB. Marié(e) 12 mai 1973 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Hilaire Gagné, Bob (Robert William) CHERNICHAN, naissance 10 avril 1948 à Red Rose MB, (fils de William (Bill) CHERNICHAN et Anne CHERNYCHAN). 5 enfants.

1.5. Laurette Alma BERNIER, naissance 28 avril 1952 à Red Cross Hospital, Fisher Branch MB, résidence à Winnipeg MB. Marié(e) 3 août 1974 à Winnipeg MB, Ted Paul TRUSZYNSKI, naissance 29 mars 1953 à Winnipeg, MB, (fils de John TRUSZYNSKI et Tena BURBA). 2 enfants.

1.6. René BERNIER, naissance 12 juin 1953 à Fisher Branch Hospital MB, résidence à Winnipeg MB. Marié(e) 29 juin 1974 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., Janet Patricia HNATIUK, naissance 24 mars 1954 à Misericordia General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, (fille de John HNATIUK et Joyce WILLIAMS).

1.7. Léo Marcel BERNIER, naissance 28 septembre 1955 à Fisher Branch Hospital MB, résidence à Lorette MB. Marié(e) 21 juillet 1979 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Denis Bourbonnais, o.m.i., Susan Marie MARSHALL, naissance 5 avril 1959 à Winnipeg MB, (fille de Robert MARSHALL et Iris WOODHALL). 4 enfants.

1.8. Suzanne Anita BERNIER, naissance 17 novembre 1956 à Red Cross Hospital, Fisher Branch MB, résidence à Lorette MB. Marié(e) 24 juillet 1976 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Hilaire Gagné o.m.i., Cameron Robert MOORE, naissance 25 juin 1955 à Winnipeg MB, (fils de Robert Henry MOORE et Beatrice SVEINSON). 5 enfants.

1.9. Jeannette BERNIER, naissance 10 mars 1958 à Fisher Branch Hospital MB, résidence à Winnipeg MB. Marié(e) 6 août 1977 à Winnipeg MB, Jameel Shareef ALI, naissance 6 juin 1952 à Trinidad, (fils de Ahamad ALI et Zaitoon MOHAMMED). 3 enfants.

1.10. Guy Émile BERNIER, naissance 18 janvier 1960 à Red Cross Hospital, Fisher Branch MB, résidence à Fisher Branch MB. (1) Marié(e) 2 juillet 1983 à Fisher Branch MB, Wendy Ann RAWLUK, naissance 27 février 1965 à Winnipeg MB, (fille de Ronald RAWLUK et Barbara PLISHKA). 3 enfants (3 fils). (2) Marié(e) 27 mars 1999 à l'église Immaculée-Conception, Fisher Branch MB par rev. Fr. Boguslaw Wardzinski, Kathe LOEWEN-ZAGRODNIK, (fille de Henri B. LOEWEN et Liese ____).

1.11. Alain Pierre BERNIER, naissance 10 novembre 1962 à Red Cross Hospital, Fisher Branch MB, résidence à Lorette MB. Marié(e) 5 novembre 1983 à Winnipeg MB, Lorene SCHAAK, naissance 3 janvier 1965 à Winnipeg MB, (fille de Paul SCHAAK et Margaret Elaine HILL). 3 enfants.

1.12. Denis Philippe BERNIER, naissance 11 avril 1964 à Grace General Hospital, Winnipeg MB, résidence à Lorette MB. Marié(e) 27 octobre 1984 à Fisher Branch MB par rév. Denis Bourbonnais o.m.i., Brenda Louise PLISHKA, naissance 29 mai 1965 à Winnipeg MB, (fille de Walter PLISHKA et Audrey MANN). 3 enfants.

Roger Bernier & Éva Meilleur

Roger Alcide, came into this world in St. Jean-Baptiste, Manitoba, on Tuesday, August 14, 1923, the second son born to Joseph and Corinne Bernier (née Grégoire). My godparents were my uncle Alphonse and aunt Anna Dupuis née Grégoire. I spent the next eight years of my life like most kids do, growing up, going to school, and enjoying life carefree. But hard times hit, and because of non employment, dad decided to make the move to Fisher Branch, Manitoba, where some of his friends were homesteading. He bought a quarter section of land which was mostly bush, only 27 acres were opened, and after a five-day journey with his horses and all our belongings, he arrived in Fisher Branch on June 10, 1932, amongst hordes of mosquitoes and flies. Myself, mom and the girls, Alma and Simonne, came by car with an uncle, while Paul drove a team of horses with our furniture and the rest of our supplies. The cattle came by box car (train) where one of my uncles took care of them. The grass was lush, so the cattle really went to town grazing, as fast as they could. In St. Jean-Baptiste, the grasshoppers had eaten everything to the ground. Being early June, mom and Alma planted a garden and with good weather and good care, it supplied us with fresh vegetables and potatoes for the winter.

Immediately, dad, Paul (11) and I (9) started to clear more land. When school began in the fall, we attended classes, but being 3½ miles from school, and the only way to go was by walking, our interest in education was next to nil. The biggest drawback was that we did not understand English, and although our neighbors were French speaking, we were not allowed to speak in French. If we were caught, we were punished, sometimes severely. When winter came, the cold and the deep snow and not sufficiently dressed, we did not attend classes too often. Needless to say, we were not interested to further our education and at the age of 14 and 12, Paul and I quit school and helped dad open up more land, and till the soil and put in the crops. Everything had to be done with horses and the cutting of trees was done with the axe. The stumps were then pulled with the horses, but all roots had to be cut with the axe and piled to burn when they were dry enough.

With hard work and more land in crops, we were able to improve our techniques. Dad bought a steel wheel tractor, which helped to work the land. We also had cattle, ox and chickens, to look after, but Alma was always there to help with the animals and the stoking and haymaking, while Simonne was getting old enough to help mom in the house.

With no electricity and no radio until 1944, our contact with the rest of the neighbors was through the Church. The annual picnic and card parties to raise funds were always a pleasure to attend. Besides, people took turns to have house parties, and as Paul played the violin and I the guitar, we managed to meet most of the people around, and we had lots of fun.

When the war broke out in 1939, many of our friends enlisted, but we kept on helping dad breaking new land on the two other quarter sections he had bought of school land. When Paul enlisted in the Army in 1943, I was left to help with the farm work, and at harvest time, dad would hire men to help with the stoking and harvesting.

We had met the Meilleur family through church activities, and when Paul started courting Delia, we got to know them better, and as it is often the case, after Delia and Paul got married in 1945, I started dating Eva Marie Meilleur (born June 26, 1925 in Fisher Branch, Manitoba, daughter of Ovila Meilleur and Zéphérina Gauthier). We were engaged in 1946, and we were married on June 25, 1947. That fall, dad, mom and the girls went to spend the winter in New Westminster B.C.

Eva in not only a companion and friend, she is also a good homemaker. Her talents are many. She is a good cook and seamstress. She make all the children's clothing, from girl's dresses made from printed flour bags, to the boy's Sunday best from men's old suits. Then in the more fancy stuff, she made Baptismal gowns, First Communion dresses, bride and bridesmaid gowns, and even a matching going-away outfit for one of our sons and daughter-in-law. She also does knitting and crocheting, so even if money was scarce, our children were always well dressed, especially for going to church on Sunday. I was the family barber until the boys were in their teens.

Eva also did upholstery, from recovering sofas and chairs to tractor seats and even truck and airplane seats. All these talents are still being used to help our children, and she is very grateful that her health still permits her to do all these things.

Eva has always been involved in volunteer work, especially for the church. She's been a member of the Catholic Women's league for 27 years and is still very active, as she was almost always on the executive and President for 8 years. She also served a number of years on the Parish Council. She also took care of her aging mother, in our home, for two years.

I still love farming, and help with the work as much as I can. Raymond came home from Winnipeg in 1978 and now rents all our farms, so I guess, I am now retired. Eva and I are enjoying our free time to visit with children and friends. I still love to hunt "big game", although I am not as capable as I used to, but still accompany my sons and sons-in-law on hunting expeditions. Eva loves to play cards, but I am not a card enthusiast, although I enjoy it during winter months.

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Written by Eva for Roger
Dated January 30, 1996