My First Communion

I managed to recover from mumps in time to be confirmed with my Grade One class on a Thursday in spring. However, the day after, I came down with chicken pox so I missed making my First Communion with my classmates on the Sunday. I did so later in April at a regular Sunday Mass at St. Brendan's Church. Afterwards my Aunt Geraldine and Uncle Gerald invited us to their apartment for a celebratory lunch.


I just loved the emerald green coat and hat which were bought for the occasion. The coat pockets and collar were brown velvet.

The other pictures are of me with my father and with my grandmothers, Nanny Martin on the left and Nanny Thompson on the right.

1949/50 Grade 1 Class Picture - St. Brendan's School, Montreal

Can you pick me out? Actually my mother made it easy by marking an "X" on the notebook on my desk. My teacher was Miss McKeon and I thought she was wonderful. Strictly speaking we weren't baby boomers because that period officially began in 1945 but there certainly were many of us. There were only two grade one classrooms however, there was a morning class and a different afternoon class in each. Those who began the year in the morning, switched to afternoons mid-year. I just loved going to school. Can you believe that all the children in this class are 64 or 65 years of age today?

Early Childhood Pictures

These are pictures fom my early childhood. I remember the red and white striped dress that I am wearing in one of them. It must have been taken when I was about six because I had lost a couple of front baby teeth. The middle picture was taken at my Uncle Tom's and Aunt Bea's wedding. Both dress and hat were made of pale green organza.

A Family Christening

These pictures were taken at the christening of baby Faith, daughter of my Aunt Theresa (my mother’s sister) and Uncle Joe Mooney. They also had two sons, Pat & Mike (Irish eh?) and a daughter, Francie who died not long after she was born.

Joe Mooney worked for one of our two railroad companies at the time, CPR or CNR - can't remember which. Aunt Theresa must have had secretarial training because when I was a teenager, I remember that she worked from home typing theses for masters or doctoral candidates at McGill. Faith and her family live in California, Pat lives in the London area and Michael died after a heart attack about nine or ten years ago.

The other couples in the above pictures are Uncle Jim (my mother’s brother), his wife, Vi , Aunt Mary (my mother’s sister) and her husband, Gordon Hewlings. Neither of these couples had children but they were kind to and supportive of their nieces and nephews. Both Uncles Jim and Gordon worked in the printing business. I was told that the explosion in Halifax harbor orphaned Aunt Vi. The Halifax Explosion occurred on December 16, 1917 when the city of Halifax, was devastated by the huge detonation of a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives that had accidentally collided with a Norwegian ship in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbour.

Uncle Jim and Aunt Vi met in a boarding house somewhere in the Maritime Provinces. They moved to Montreal after their marriage. Aunt Vi was a stay-at-home wife. Uncle Jim was an avid reader and tropical fish collector. They had a budgie, which they occasionally left, out of the cage. One day when Aunt Vi and I came back from a shopping excursion, she opened the back door of their of their flat and the budgie escaped, not to return despite the many attempts Aunt Vi made to attract it with the bird caller. Uncle Jim was not amused.

I don't think that Uncle Jim and Aunt Vi chose not to have children. I recall an occasion when she thought she was pregnant but it was a false alarm. They were a great help to my Aunt Dorothy, the British war bride of my Uncle Tom (Martin). She was widowed in the early 60's with nine children and one on the way. She miscarried the 10th but had her hands full with the remaining offspring.

Aunt Vi died much too young from cancer when I was a teenager. In spite of having tuberculosis as a young man, Uncle Jim lived to a ripe old age and died on a golf course.

During the second world war, Aunt Mary enlisted in the army. She was underage but put off providing the required documentation until she reached the required age. This was not difficult to do in the pre-computer age. I remember that she worked for Firestone, a company from which she retired as the District Manager's Secretary. She was a strikingly attractive lady with dark brunette hair and brown eyes. She once told me that, as a child, she thought she was adopted because she was the only one in the family with brown eyes - a recessive gene, I presume. Why would a family with so many children (who resembled each other) adopt another? Not long after she got married, Aunt Mary had surgery for some problem and later learned that the surgeon had performed a hysterectomy. That was not an uncommon situation in the 1950's.

My Grandmother and Godfather

This is a picture of Nanny Thompson and Uncle Tom, my dad’s younger brother. He was also my godfather and always remembered my birthday. Uncle Tom had a similar nature to his mother and my dad. He was a large man, quiet, gentle and kind. He always had a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. As was common in those days, like my father, he lived at home with his mother until he married Beatrice Madden. I think their wedding was the first that I ever attended. They had no children. Uncle Tom worked for Canadian Pacific Railways in the rail yards.

Nanny Thompson, Aunt Bella and Me

This is a picture of Nanny Thompson, Aunt Bella and me. Although this is a black and white photo, I remember the bottle green colored snowsuit. Aunt Bella was my father’s youngest sister. She was married to Gerard Senecal, a French Canadian, who was a commercial artist. I have posted two of his watercolor paintings at the right. Aunt Bella and Uncle Gerard occasionally brought me with them for picnics on Mount Royal where Uncle Gerard liked to paint. They had a son named John who died shortly after birth. Aunt Bella was a doting aunt and an entertaining pianist who played by ear.

Me at Three

I don't remember having this picture taken but it does bring back a number of other memories. It was probably taken when I was about three years of age (1946) by my father's nephew, Thomas Logan, who was an amateur photographer. I am dressed in blue, my mother's favorite colour and mine as well. I am also wearing sturdy leather toddler shoes. My mother always insisted that my brother and I wear good quality shoes to protect our feet regardless of the cost. When I look at this little girl, she appears to be happy and confident. She has obviously been posed for the photograph. I remember Aunt Bella, my father's sister, telling me that when asked to, I would readily pose for the camera.

My Paternal Grandmother

This is my paternal grandmother, Edith Thompson (nee Schmidt). Nanny Thompson, as my brother, Henry and I called her, was born in Stockholm Sweden and immigrated to Canada with her family when she was twelve years old. In Canada, they changed their name to Smith.

She married Edward Thompson and had six children, three boys (My father, Harry and my uncles Sam and Tom) and three daughters (Lena, Dolly and Bella). My grandfather died before I was born so I have no memory of him. I was told that he worked for the post office.

Nanny Thompson lived on 15th Ave in Rosemont and we lived on 14th Ave. It was easy to visit her by crossing the back lane and I did so frequently.

Nanny was a gentle, devout, quiet and loving woman. She was a wonderful cook. I still remember the appetizing smells which filled her home when we arrived for Sunday dinners.

She was a very important person in my life and I missed her very much after she died when I was about ten years old. I still have fond memories of her.

My Maternal Grandparents

These are pictures of my maternal grandparents, Frances Anne (nee King) and Louis Martin. They came to Montreal from St. John, New Brunswick and lived in a large flat at the top of the stairs that you can see in the top picture. Across the street was a large park and playground where my cousins and I played whenever we visited.

They had eight children, four sons (Frank, Lou, Jim and Tom), four daughters (my mother, Anne, and my aunts, Theresa, Mary and Gerry) and twenty-seven grandchildren. Uncles Frank and Tom who moved to Ontario had nine children each. I have very vague memories of my grandfather because he died on August 23, 1946 when I was just over three years old.

My brother, Henry and I called our grandmother, Nanny Martin. She was a terrific cook. After her daughter, Mary married, she gave up her large flat in Outremont for smaller quarters and occasionally moved in with various children during periodic bouts of ill health. I really didn’t get to know her very well but I remember that she loved to play cards and taught her grandchildren how to play Canasta. She died at age sixty-seven on Christmas Day, 1957 when I was thirteen.