Paper: Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Title: Oldest resident gets 'gold cane'
Date: June 10, 1999
PHOTO

PALMER
When Alice G. Flebotte was told she would be receiving the Palmer Historical Commission's gold cane as the town's oldest resident, she was surprised.

"I'm the oldest?" she asked when daughter Doris Boulerice told her the news. "I don't feel old," she said.

After all, Flebotte is only 103.

Last night, she arrived in a white, stretch limousine at the Palmer town building, where she received numerous accolades from the Board of Selectmen. Members of the Historical Commission presented the long-time Palmer resident with the gold cane award amid a crowd that overflowed the room into the hallway. Afterwards, well-wishers gathered for a celebration at the Palmer Senior Center.

Flebotte was given a replica of the gold-headed cane because no one is sure what became of the real one, said Lorraine Novak, a member of the Historic Commission.

In the 1800s, every city and town in the commonwealth was given a gold cane by the Boston Post, to be awarded to the town's oldest resident.

A resident of the Lake Thompson section of Palmer, Alice Lemieux Flebotte was born in Lensienne Laurette, a small, Canadian town near Quebec City. When she was 3, her family moved to the United States and settled in Springfield's Indian Orchard section. She attended St. Aloyisus School there and married Noe Flebotte in 1917. Together they operated Flebotte's Market for many years.

In the 1920s, when the Lake Thompson area contained only six cottages, the Flebottes purchased a cottage, and the family has enjoyed every summer since then at the lake, said Flebotte's granddaughter, Peggy Santaw, who lives in Thorndike.

Santaw said she is constantly energized by her grandmother's healthy attitude about life.

"My grandmother has this wonderful, wonderful spirit," Santaw said. "She's always told us, 'You're only as old as you let yourself be.'"

Flebotte's husband died in 1967, one month after the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Her brother, William Lemieux, died in 1996 at the age of 102, and her "baby" sister Agnes Platt, of Westfield, is now 89.

Flebotte spends her winters in Englewood, Fla., with her daughter, Doris, and son-in-law Al Boulerice. Each summer she returns to her Lake Thompson home. She has four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

The historical society is still hoping the town's original gold cane will reappear, Novak said. Some towns have recovered their original canes after many years, Novak said. The canes often turn up in an attic when a house is being cleaned out, she said.



Published in the Springfield, MA Union News, Aug. 16, 2002;
Alice G. (Lemieux) Flebotte, 106, of Palmer and Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, a native of L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, who worked for many years in her husband's grocery business, Flebotte's Market in Indian Orchard, died at her home on Wednesday, August 14, 2002. Calling hours are scheduled for Friday, August 16, 2002, 4-7 p.m., at Ratell Funeral Home, 200 Main Street, Indian Orchard. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, August 17, 9 a.m., at the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Saturday, 10 a.m., at St. Jude's Church, Indian Orchard. Burial will be at St. Aloysius Cemetery, Indian Orchard. Memorial donations are appreciated to Quaboag Valley Hospice, 79 Fiarview Street, Palmer, MA 01069 or Palmer Senior Center Building Fund, 1029 Central Street, Palmer, MA 01069. Arrangements entrusted to Ratell Funeral Home, Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.

Headstone
rear
1894-Noe E. Flebotte-1967
his wife
1896-Alice G. Lemieux-2002
1898-Emery J. Graveline-1979
his wife
1900-Helen M. Flebotte-1989
1921-Albert E. Boulerice-
his wife
1923-Doris H. Flebotte-

Flebotte, Alice G., Mrs.
Birth: 06/15/1896
Death: 08/14/2002
Burial: 08/17/2002
Grave# 7
Age 106
Place of death: At home, 110 Flynt Street, Palmer, MA
Vault: Imperial
Ratell Funeral Home, 200 Main St., Indian Orchard, MA
413-543-3836
Responsible party: Doris Boulerice, daughter