Lucien Theriault was a WWII Vet, he was a SPR in the Royal Canadian Engineers and was with the 8th Army under Field Marshall Montgomary. He served in North Africa and Sicily and a few other places.
He was torpedoed at least once on a troop ship and injured a few times when the trucks and jeeps he drove were shelled.
He was born in Lachine to a large French Canadian Catholic family and was the 3rd youngest of 11 living children born to Damien Terriault and Maria Desmarais. His last name was spelled differently from the rest of his family because the Priest made a mistake on his birth Certificate. There are several different variations of this Acadian name with Terriault being a slightly older version and Theriault being the modern. He went to school at Academy Piche on 15th Avenue in Lachine and completed High School there. At that time graduation was at grade 10. As a young man he became a constable on the Lachine Police Force but was dismissed in the early 1930's to make room for a married man to take his job during the depression. He went to New York City for a few years at that time and learned English. He boarded with the Levingston Family in Brooklyn, and knew their son Sam well, Sam later became a celebrity, writting and doing stand up comedy.
In the late 1930's he came back to Lachine and met my mother Enid Walker. They were married 5 months after they met on September 18th, 1937. Dad always said that he married my Mom because he got tired of walking, he claimed he couldn't get her to sit down next to him on a bench. They had my brother Harry Walker Theriault just 8 months later on July 9th, 1938, he was born a month early because my maternal grandfather died suddenly on July 5th 1938 of a stroke at age 49, the shock and grief sent my mother into labour.
My paternal grandfather went to his furneral and passed away only a few months later in November 1938 at age 76.
My Dad enlisted with his Nephew Marcel in September 1939 directly after Canada declared war on Germany. He left for England that Autumn although already 34 years old and did not get home until August 1945.
My Sister Yvonne was born in late February 1946, but was born with defects, she only lived 7 weeks.
This was a great blow, my father had missed my brother's childhood and longed for another chance.
They tried again and I was born on March 3rd, 1948, almost 2 months early. I was not supposed to live, but as my Mom always said..."We sure fooled them"
Dad was a devoted father, a steady worker, and a man you could set your clock by. Always up at 5:00am, always asleep at 8:00pm in front of the TV. He was a very gifted Artist, he loved working in Ink and Charcol and his artwork greatly treasured by friends and relatives. He would never sell his art, it was always given away. He was a very generous person who worked for the Canadian Legion and the "Poppy Fund" for the rest of his life. He also took in family members and other friends who were looking for a home. He always had a meal ready for anyone who was hungry, or a sofa someone could sleep on. It was interesting walking with my Dad, it would take us ages to go from one end of Notre Dame St. in Lachine to the other. Every second person stopped us for a chat. I swear he knew everyone in town and everyone knew him and wanted to chat.
I guess to some we seemed like an average blue collar family that never had much materially, but I always felt rich, and I think it's simply because my parents made me feel that way because our lives were really full.
He was torpedoed at least once on a troop ship and injured a few times when the trucks and jeeps he drove were shelled.
He was born in Lachine to a large French Canadian Catholic family and was the 3rd youngest of 11 living children born to Damien Terriault and Maria Desmarais. His last name was spelled differently from the rest of his family because the Priest made a mistake on his birth Certificate. There are several different variations of this Acadian name with Terriault being a slightly older version and Theriault being the modern. He went to school at Academy Piche on 15th Avenue in Lachine and completed High School there. At that time graduation was at grade 10. As a young man he became a constable on the Lachine Police Force but was dismissed in the early 1930's to make room for a married man to take his job during the depression. He went to New York City for a few years at that time and learned English. He boarded with the Levingston Family in Brooklyn, and knew their son Sam well, Sam later became a celebrity, writting and doing stand up comedy.
In the late 1930's he came back to Lachine and met my mother Enid Walker. They were married 5 months after they met on September 18th, 1937. Dad always said that he married my Mom because he got tired of walking, he claimed he couldn't get her to sit down next to him on a bench. They had my brother Harry Walker Theriault just 8 months later on July 9th, 1938, he was born a month early because my maternal grandfather died suddenly on July 5th 1938 of a stroke at age 49, the shock and grief sent my mother into labour.
My paternal grandfather went to his furneral and passed away only a few months later in November 1938 at age 76.
My Dad enlisted with his Nephew Marcel in September 1939 directly after Canada declared war on Germany. He left for England that Autumn although already 34 years old and did not get home until August 1945.
My Sister Yvonne was born in late February 1946, but was born with defects, she only lived 7 weeks.
This was a great blow, my father had missed my brother's childhood and longed for another chance.
They tried again and I was born on March 3rd, 1948, almost 2 months early. I was not supposed to live, but as my Mom always said..."We sure fooled them"
Dad was a devoted father, a steady worker, and a man you could set your clock by. Always up at 5:00am, always asleep at 8:00pm in front of the TV. He was a very gifted Artist, he loved working in Ink and Charcol and his artwork greatly treasured by friends and relatives. He would never sell his art, it was always given away. He was a very generous person who worked for the Canadian Legion and the "Poppy Fund" for the rest of his life. He also took in family members and other friends who were looking for a home. He always had a meal ready for anyone who was hungry, or a sofa someone could sleep on. It was interesting walking with my Dad, it would take us ages to go from one end of Notre Dame St. in Lachine to the other. Every second person stopped us for a chat. I swear he knew everyone in town and everyone knew him and wanted to chat.
I guess to some we seemed like an average blue collar family that never had much materially, but I always felt rich, and I think it's simply because my parents made me feel that way because our lives were really full.
Lucien Theriault was a WWII Vet, he was a SPR in the Royal Canadian Engineers and was with the 8th Army under Field Marshall Montgomary. He served in North Africa and Sicily and a few other places.
He was torpedoed at least once on a troop ship and injured a few times when the trucks and jeeps he drove were shelled.
He was born in Lachine to a large French Canadian Catholic family and was the 3rd youngest of 11 living children born to Damien Terriault and Maria Desmarais. His last name was spelled differently from the rest of his family because the Priest made a mistake on his birth Certificate. There are several different variations of this Acadian name with Terriault being a slightly older version and Theriault being the modern. He went to school at Academy Piche on 15th Avenue in Lachine and completed High School there. At that time graduation was at grade 10. As a young man he became a constable on the Lachine Police Force but was dismissed in the early 1930's to make room for a married man to take his job during the depression. He went to New York City for a few years at that time and learned English. He boarded with the Levingston Family in Brooklyn, and knew their son Sam well, Sam later became a celebrity, writting and doing stand up comedy.
In the late 1930's he came back to Lachine and met my mother Enid Walker. They were married 5 months after they met on September 18th, 1937. Dad always said that he married my Mom because he got tired of walking, he claimed he couldn't get her to sit down next to him on a bench. They had my brother Harry Walker Theriault just 8 months later on July 9th, 1938, he was born a month early because my maternal grandfather died suddenly on July 5th 1938 of a stroke at age 49, the shock and grief sent my mother into labour.
My paternal grandfather went to his furneral and passed away only a few months later in November 1938 at age 76.
My Dad enlisted with his Nephew Marcel in September 1939 directly after Canada declared war on Germany. He left for England that Autumn although already 34 years old and did not get home until August 1945.
My Sister Yvonne was born in late February 1946, but was born with defects, she only lived 7 weeks.
This was a great blow, my father had missed my brother's childhood and longed for another chance.
They tried again and I was born on March 3rd, 1948, almost 2 months early. I was not supposed to live, but as my Mom always said..."We sure fooled them"
Dad was a devoted father, a steady worker, and a man you could set your clock by. Always up at 5:00am, always asleep at 8:00pm in front of the TV. He was a very gifted Artist, he loved working in Ink and Charcol and his artwork greatly treasured by friends and relatives. He would never sell his art, it was always given away. He was a very generous person who worked for the Canadian Legion and the "Poppy Fund" for the rest of his life. He also took in family members and other friends who were looking for a home. He always had a meal ready for anyone who was hungry, or a sofa someone could sleep on. It was interesting walking with my Dad, it would take us ages to go from one end of Notre Dame St. in Lachine to the other. Every second person stopped us for a chat. I swear he knew everyone in town and everyone knew him and wanted to chat.
I guess to some we seemed like an average blue collar family that never had much materially, but I always felt rich, and I think it's simply because my parents made me feel that way because our lives were really full.
He was torpedoed at least once on a troop ship and injured a few times when the trucks and jeeps he drove were shelled.
He was born in Lachine to a large French Canadian Catholic family and was the 3rd youngest of 11 living children born to Damien Terriault and Maria Desmarais. His last name was spelled differently from the rest of his family because the Priest made a mistake on his birth Certificate. There are several different variations of this Acadian name with Terriault being a slightly older version and Theriault being the modern. He went to school at Academy Piche on 15th Avenue in Lachine and completed High School there. At that time graduation was at grade 10. As a young man he became a constable on the Lachine Police Force but was dismissed in the early 1930's to make room for a married man to take his job during the depression. He went to New York City for a few years at that time and learned English. He boarded with the Levingston Family in Brooklyn, and knew their son Sam well, Sam later became a celebrity, writting and doing stand up comedy.
In the late 1930's he came back to Lachine and met my mother Enid Walker. They were married 5 months after they met on September 18th, 1937. Dad always said that he married my Mom because he got tired of walking, he claimed he couldn't get her to sit down next to him on a bench. They had my brother Harry Walker Theriault just 8 months later on July 9th, 1938, he was born a month early because my maternal grandfather died suddenly on July 5th 1938 of a stroke at age 49, the shock and grief sent my mother into labour.
My paternal grandfather went to his furneral and passed away only a few months later in November 1938 at age 76.
My Dad enlisted with his Nephew Marcel in September 1939 directly after Canada declared war on Germany. He left for England that Autumn although already 34 years old and did not get home until August 1945.
My Sister Yvonne was born in late February 1946, but was born with defects, she only lived 7 weeks.
This was a great blow, my father had missed my brother's childhood and longed for another chance.
They tried again and I was born on March 3rd, 1948, almost 2 months early. I was not supposed to live, but as my Mom always said..."We sure fooled them"
Dad was a devoted father, a steady worker, and a man you could set your clock by. Always up at 5:00am, always asleep at 8:00pm in front of the TV. He was a very gifted Artist, he loved working in Ink and Charcol and his artwork greatly treasured by friends and relatives. He would never sell his art, it was always given away. He was a very generous person who worked for the Canadian Legion and the "Poppy Fund" for the rest of his life. He also took in family members and other friends who were looking for a home. He always had a meal ready for anyone who was hungry, or a sofa someone could sleep on. It was interesting walking with my Dad, it would take us ages to go from one end of Notre Dame St. in Lachine to the other. Every second person stopped us for a chat. I swear he knew everyone in town and everyone knew him and wanted to chat.
I guess to some we seemed like an average blue collar family that never had much materially, but I always felt rich, and I think it's simply because my parents made me feel that way because our lives were really full.
