Leo and Agnes Fournier – “121 Duke Street East”
IF THIS HOUSE COULD TALK
In 1950 moving from Corbeil, a man, his wife and seven kids rented a small house. Feeling crowded, the man decides it was time to build his own home. Hence, with the help of family and friends, “121 DUKE STREET EAST’ was built; I had my start.
Dimensionally I was not a big house, but, as a home I was the best. Once they moved in, I remember how good it felt to feel the pitter-patter of little feet running on my joists and soon number eight to fourteen were on their way.
Quite a crowd at meal time, they didn’t have much but they were happy. I remember parties as Christmas and New Years with 40-50 people dancing and laughing all night. Man, my joists were sore in the morning; they even creaked a little.
The husband worked out of town a lot so it was up to the wife to make everything work. She did a great job of it too! The kids all did their share; well most of the time anyway. The smell of the woman’s cooking especially her seapie will always be embedded in my walls.
By the way, 121 DUKE STREET EAST, is still firmly standing today. I am still a loving home to the large family, plus the many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren. Sixteen cedar trees were planted; two in the front representing the man and his wife, and fourteen alongside the driveway symbolizing the children.
So, you can see my load has gone up and down over the years. “Leo”, my creator, always said, “Build them right and they will last!” The lady of the house “Agnes” (92 years old), is doing a great job in keeping up with my maintenance. After all these years, I’m still the best!
In closing, the man and his wife were Leo and Agnes Fournier, with their seven boys and seven girls. Elise, Lucille, Ron, Reg, Claudette, Claire, Louise, Rene, Richard, Suzanne, Denise, Robert, Rolland and Raymond.