17 Jun 2003... Returning from DownEast yesterday, we stopped for a visit with my dear cousin Grace (Rita, Joachim, Joseph) and her husband and my good friend, John Cole. After catching up on each other's news, we focused on the rest of the family. Grace was good enough to share a couple of photos with us. Here they are... 
 (Please click on each photo to zoom...  you may also download any of these photos by right clicking on each photo and selecting SAVE PICTURE AS))

It all started about 62 years ago, on 30 June 1941 in Baker Brook with Rita (Joachim, Joseph) and Alfred (Fred) Bonsant. Fred was born 10 May 1920 in Rivière-du-Loop, PQ and Rita was born 30 March 1921 in Baker Brook. She is pictured in other family photos on this website. (Go to http://www.terriau.org/joseph-theogenie/photo.htm#Photos) Pictured here at around the time of their wedding in June 1941, the two newlyweds went on to raise a family of three children in Edmundston: Grace, Nelson and Adrien.
We'll fill in some of the details later (with a little help from the family), but here is Fred some 17 years later on 21 May 1958, just before he passed away from cardiac disease. Rita was deceased 22 years later on 17 November 1980 in Edmundston. This photo was probably taken at the Bonsant home in Edmundston.
An outstanding portrait of Nelson, Grace and Adrien... my guess is that this beautiful photo was taken on the occasion of one of the several Bonsant/Cole weddings in the 1990's...
...and here is the entire Bonsant family in 2003. A recent photo of the children, grand-children and great-grandchildren of Fred and Rita. (Note to Nelson, Grace and Adrien: please fill in some of the details for these photos. There must be a few stories to tell here...)

13 May 2003.  Not long ago on 'La Grande Jaseuse', we had a very big photo story of Bryan (Betty, Theodule, Joachim, Joseph) and Jennifer's wedding. Today, we're delighted to show you some great news about Sydney, their little girl. The photo on the left was taken a little over a month ago in March, and the photo on the right was taken on Mother's Day this year,  2003. As she is approaching her 90th birthday in September, Mémére Elsie enjoyed spending some time with Sydney on Mother's Day and is shown holding her great-grand daughter.  Yes, life is worth living indeed. (Click on each photo to zoom)

Easter Sunday 2003. There was a very cool party at Mitchell's house on Easter Sunday. It was Mitchell's 8th Birthday. But also, since it was Easter Sunday, everyone got to join in the family's annual Easter Egg Hunt... to hunt for all 225 eggs! Many thought that it would take all day to find all of these eggs, but Mitchell and his sister and cousins scooped them up in no time. (Some of the older members of the family... we won't mention any names... even joined in the hunt. It was so much fun that they couldn't resist it!) The eggs included all of the possible colors in the rainbow and most important, each egg had a prize inside. Sometimes candy and sometimes real money!!

Now back to Mitchell's birthday. It is a well known fact that Mitchell loves lemon cake. Actually, he loves his Uncle Ralph's lemon cake. So through his wonderful grandmother, Mert, Uncle Ralph (actually Grand Uncle) got the word that Mitchell was hoping to have a lemon cake for his birthday. Well Mitchell's wish came true and here he is with his lemon birthday cake with his eight coloring crayon candles and a complete construction site with Matchbox trucks on top of his cake. Everyone is singing "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mitchell..."

Let us end by saying that Mitchell is the son of Duane and Danielle. But also, Mitchell is an important member of the Theriault family through his mother, Danielle. In fact, here is his Theriault lineage going back 402 years to 1601:  Danielle (1966), Mert (1942), Theodule (1915), Joachim (1886), Joseph (1858), Dolphis (1822), Charles (1796), Charles-Marie (1763), Joseph (1719), Claude (1687), Germain (1662), Claude (1637), Jehan (1601). (PHEW!! )

(Click on photos to zoom)

Tuesday, 22 January 2002.  Just got a note from Nicole Theriault Cyr with an attached photograph (at left) of Ricky her brother, and his wife Rachel... with their first born 'Baby Jacob'.  Congratulations Ricky and Rachel. We wish you both years and years of happiness and many more children!

Ricky and Rachel live in the beautiful state of Maine and I understand that Ricky's pastime these days is tapping those wonderful sugar maples in Maine. (See 'Family Stories' section)

Somewhere over the clear blue skies of Del Rio in a dusty corner of Texas not far from the Rio Grande river on the Mexican border, Second Lieutenant Eric Theriault (Oneil, Denis, Joachim, Joseph) is honing his wings. He is now about half way through and is in Phase III, the final (and most difficult) phase of his training at UPT which is undoubtedly one of the Air Force's toughest school. We are pleased to announce that Eric has been selected for fighter/bomber training and is now spending much of his time in the Air Force's T-38 Talon jet trainer. The T-38 is also used by NASA to train astronauts. (See photo at right.) 

While UPT is difficult, it is especially difficult for married officers. As Eric is undergoing his training, his Fair Lady, Second Lieutenant Liza Theriault is stationed a few hundred miles away at Holloman Air Force Base, in New Mexico. The two have made very special efforts to see each other occasionally, sometimes meeting halfway between Holloman and Del Rio... which must be out in the desert somewhere. We're also pleased to announce that Liza was selected for the Company Grade Officer of the Year Award at Holoman. I'm sure that she had plenty of competition.

It has been rough on  both of them... but they are both very determined and capable officers who will see these tough times through. 
We wish them Godspeed and good luck. Keep us posted, Eric and Liza. 

A final word of advice to Saddam and Osama... keep your eyes to the skies...

Darryl Cyr, husband of former Nicole Ann Theriault (Ino, Denis, Joachim, Joseph), was recently promoted to Assistant Fire Chief of the City of Bangor, Maine. Darryl has been a fireman with the city of Bangor since 1988. Six years later, he rose through the ranks to Lieutenant in 1994 and to Captain in 1999. 

Darryl's duties include the Training Division, Technical Rescue Chief and Fire Reporting System Administrator. The Assistant Chief is a Maine Fire Training and Education Instructor Supervisor for Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties and is a certified SunPro Fire Records Management System Instructor. 

Darryl's wife, Nicole is a frequent visitor of our website and works hard to keep her genealogy in our Archive up to date. She's been good to keep us up-to-date with the news from Aroostook County as well as from across the river. Thanks, Nicole and a hearty congratulations to Darryl!

Checkout the City of Bangor website for other details including a Virtual Tour of the Fire Station.

First about my Mother:  Elsie Dubé Theriault Labato... in short, she is doing exceedingly well. A year ago, we thought for sure that we would lose her but by the sheer strength of her faith and with good medical attention, she was able to rebound and resume her good life. 

True, she is not as mobile as she once was and can no longer dance the Charleston, but she still manages a good game of bingo, maintains contact with her friends, and still has time to keep her husband, Mike Labato busy waiting on her. These days, she spends most of her time at a local care center who continues to do a superb job looking after her medical condition and gives her all the attention she needs.

Periodically, her husband Mike brings her home for the holidays and other family events to spend 4-5 days at a time in her home... making sure that Mike is keeping the house clean and the yard well kept. She doesn't miss much...

So, we are very grateful that we continue to have our Mother in our midst. She is a source of great advice and has been our foremost living example of 'faith at work'... and always with a great sense of humor. 

We thank you all for keeping her in your thoughts when she was going through her tough times. If any of you would like to send her a note, or call her, let us know by e-mail... we'll be glad to give you her address and phone number.

(NOTE: These three photos are of our Mother, Elsie, taken on Easter weekend 2001 at her home. Click on the photo to enlarge. The  photos are downloadable, of course.)

As to our proposal:  for those of you who are members of this Great-Branch, the Joseph and Théogénie Theriault branch, take a few minutes to send us a short biography of your mother, whether living or not, and we will post it right here in this section of our newsletter. We will leave it up for the next six months, for all to see. I have posted a short biography of my mother as an example.)

Today, she lives in Connecticut with her second husband, Michael Labato and is surrounded by her children, her 9 grand-children and 10 great-grand-children. Her great gift to her children and friends is her strong faith and equally strong sense of humor.

Summer of '35... the year of her marriage to Dénis. 

Yvette Landry Thériault, 1915-1996.  Elle était la fille à Daniel Landry et Fébrénie Pelletier. Deuxième d’une famille de neuf enfants, elle apprit vite comment s’occuper d’une maisonnée !  En 1935, elle prit pour époux Denis Thériault qui lui donna onze beaux enfants ; Théo, Oneil (Toune), Lucien (Bob), Réjeanne, Guildo (Guy), Guilmay, Ino, Claude (Taroune), Lise, Rino (George), et Daniel.  Avec la quantité de “nicknames” on croirait qu’ils étaient le double de ce qu’ils sont vraiment !

L’enfance de Mémère Yvette se déroula à Riceville Nouveau-Brunswick, cependant les enfants naquirent dans différentes localités près d’Edmundston soit Riceville, Baker Brook, Edmundston et St-François.

Mémère Yvette et Pépère Denis furent des entrepreneurs presque toute leur vie.  Entre l’opération d’un moulin à farine et à blocs de béton, vendre des petits fruits et légumes en ville, être propriétaire d’un immeuble à appartements, opérer une petite cantine, ils réussirent à élever leur marmaille pauvrement mais avec beaucoup d’amour et d’humour.  On n’a qu’à connaître les bouffons qui font parti de cette famille et croyez-moi les “partys” ne sont pas du tout monotones !

Mémère Yvette garda la santé longtemps même si son conjoint n’était plus.  Elle passa toutes ses dernières années sous le même toit que sa fille Lise, son gendre Don et leurs deux enfants Wayne et Kevin qui d’ailleurs furent le secret de la longévité de Mémère.

On s’en rappellera comme une bonne vivante qui ne disait pas grand chose jusqu’au moment où on sortait le paquet de carte... elle avait toujours sa petite pochette de sous pour s’attabler devant les joueurs sérieux et croyez-moi ils en prenaient pour leur argent.

~ Composée par Denis Gendron, époux de Denise Émond (Réjeanne> Dénis> Joachim> Joseph). Reçu de Guy Michaud, époux de Guilmay Thériault (Dénis> Joachim> Joseph).  Merçi mes hommes. (Cliquez sur photos pour élargir.)

Yvette Landry Thériault, 1915-1996. She was the daughter of Daniel landry and Fébrénie Pelletier. Second child in a family of nine children, she learned very fast how to get along in a large family! In 1935, Denis Thériault asked for her hand and together raised eleven beautiful children; Théo, Oneil (Toune), Lucien (Bob), Réjeanne, Guildo (Guy), Guilmay, Ino, Claude (Taroune), Lise, Rino (George), et Daniel. With all of those nicknames, the family appeared to be twice its size!

Mémère Yvette's childhood took place in Riceville, New Brunswick, where the children were born in different  locations around Edmundston such as Riceville, Baker Brook, Edmundston and St-François.

Mémère Yvette and Pépère Denis were entrepreneurs almost all their married lives. Between the operation of the water-driven saw, flour and concrete block mill in St-François, to the selling of fruits and vegetables in the city, owners of an apartment building, operators of a small cantine, they suceeded in raising their brood modestly but with plenty of love and always with humor. Just to know the clowns who form part of this family, you can believe that the parties have not been monotonous.

1947... Yvette with her growing family.

Mémère Yvette maintained her health for much of her life even after the loss of her spouse. Her remaining years were spent living with her daughter Lise, Lise's husband Don and their two children Wayne and Kevin which no doubt was the secret to her longevity.

We will always remember her as a person who enjoyed life and who did not say much until someone brought out the game cards... she always had her small pouch of coins as she eagerly sat down with the serious players and there was never any doubt that she would eventually get some of  their money.

~Composed by Denis Gendron, husband of Denise Émond (Réjeanne> Dénis> Joachim> Joseph). Received from Guy Michaud, husband of Guilmay Thériault (Dénis> Joachim> Joseph). Thanks guys. (Left click on photos to zoom.)

30 MARCH 2001- I received an interesting e-mail letter today from a fellow who introduced himself as Jason Theriault.  He said "My name is Jason Theriault, son of Nelson and Lucille Theriault of Frenchville, Maine.  My Father is the son of Felix and Gabrielle Theriault also of Upper Frenchville, Maine.  I know it's such a small town that you must know my father." Know his father, my God, we're practically brothers!

It was obvious that I had not created much of an impression on Jason (Nelson, Felix, Joachim, Joseph) when I met him 7-8 years ago... but it was great hearing from him once again. He continued in his letter (which I'm sure he won't mind my sharing with you):  "...I left Northern Maine in 1991 after graduating from Wisdom High School to serve our country in the US Navy.  I served 8 years and am now working for Sikorsky Aircraft of San Diego, CA.  I met my beautiful wife Teresa Theriault (Rainer) of Longmont, CO in 1997.  She was also serving in the US Navy.  We married on September 1999 in Laughlin, Nevada.  Soon we will be adding another member to the Theriault name when we have our first born.  We are also planning a trip to Northern Maine in September to visit the family."

In a follow-up letter, Jason explained that he must have inherited his father's memory... he reached that conclusion after he was reminded by his mother, Lucille that he had met Rosemary and me a few years ago. So, it's all his father's fault. What a guy! Seriously, it was a great treat to hear from Jason and Teresa... you guys look like you're having such a terrible time there in Southern California where it never rains.. Jason explained in his latest letter that they were planning on spending Easter weekend touring the Grand Canyon and promised to come back with alot of photos. Bring them on, Jason!

I've included some of the photos that Jason sent with his second letter... of he and Teresa on a hike, their home in San Diego and out tooling around on their pair of 'his and hers' quads. (Left click on the photos to zoom, right click to download.) Thanks, Jason... great hearing from you! And, looking forward to seeing you this fall.

As we reported to you a little over a year ago (see the 26 November 1999 article below), Al, Denise and their two youngsters headed for California when Al was promoted into a new position. So now, it is clear, that they've settled down and are enjoying the good California life. Nice going,Denise! ...Denise went on to say that 'Oreo Cookie' is not broke yet, so she will be a handful in the meantime. She is thinking about showing her in Halter, as her 4-year old father is already a 5 time champ in Halter, and Denise says, 'She is quite a looker herself.  But first, Ground Manners!"

At the eastern end of the continent, our daughter Jill has been working with her friend 'Ziggy' ('Ziggy' has a more formal name... it is 'Zig-Zag Zipper'! How formal can you get?), a four year old registered quarter horse. Jill has been working with her for a little over a year and has been showing her in the 'Green Horse' class of some of the area shows in New England over the past year. Well, Jill's patience paid off about a month ago when she was awarded the First Place Awards for the Green Horse Division in two circuits, the Open Show Circuit, and the Camp Marshall Circuit. Don't they look great! Congratulations, sweetheart! We love you... ~JRT (Click on the photos to enlarge...)

Along with this photo was a letter that Georgette had received from a cousin, Thérèse (Theriault) Collin (Delia, Joseph) explaining some of the history of the Dolphis Thériault history... If you guys have done your home-work on this website, you all know that Dolphis was Joseph's father (Generation 8). I have revised our Archive with this new information and will in the next weeks ahead revise the biographical information that we have on Dolphis and Christine, his wife. As usual, I will send you all an ADVISORY when I make those updates.
-JRT