Robert Ronald Gagnon
| Robert Ronald Gagnon | |
| Nationality: |  American
|
| Born: | August 29, 1935 Livermore Falls, Maine |
| Died: | April 30, 2014 East Orland, Maine |
| Father: | Onesime Gagnon (1892) |
| Mother: | Rosa Yvonne Michaud |
| Spouse: | Annette Pomerleau Diann Lynn Knutson |
| Married: | May 25, 1957 (Pomerleau) November 19, 1977 (Knutson) |
| Children: | Cindy Gagnon (Pomerleau) Mark Gagnon (Pomerleau) Christina Gagnon (Pomerleau) Matthew Gagnon (Knutson) |
| Religion: | Roman Catholic |
| Residence: | Livermore Falls, Maine Walnut Creek, California Hampden, Maine East Orland, Maine |
| Profession: | Carpenter Banker School Bus Driver |
Contents
A Little Background
As the baby of the family, it is no surprise that he got a lot of loving attention from Rosa. She doted on him and Norman. There were a number of years between them and the older children, and when the war was declared, Albert, Bill and Rita had left for the military, and Blanche and Cecile were married, so the two youngest were at home alone with Rosa and Onesime. They naturally had a very different childhood than the older children, as the depression was over, and the economics of the family were much healthier just with fewer people to feed. Cecile got married the year he was born, and he was 7 when Blanche was married and Albert left for the war. Bill and Rita left soon after.
A Few Pictures
- Click on the photos below to view a larger image:
Onesime, Rosa, Rita and Bobby around 1942.
Onesime, Rosa, Norman and Bobby around 1944.
Bobby was the marshal at his HS graduation in 1953.
Bob Falls in Love
Louise's Memory of Bob and Annette's Wedding
Bob and Annette had a lovely wedding. They had asked Blanche's daughter Judy to be the flower girl, but just before the wedding, she got sick with the measles or mumps. 6yr old Louise was asked to substitute, and Irene made her dress. It was light blue satin, with an overdress of white dotted swiss. Louise's 4yr old brother Michael was the ring bearer. At the reception, Albert and the LaPlante cousins played music and sang. Albert wanted to show of Louise's singing, and wanted her to sing too, but she was too shy. Albert tried to bribe her with a large Maine chocolate milk shake, but no go. Much to his frustration, Louise sang all the way home to Connecticut in the car!
Bobby's Memories in his Own Words
(NOTE: As told to Louise Bernadette Gagnon over a short period of time.) "Bill had a 36(?) Pontiac coupe at the time. When he went in the army, he stored it at Merle Deane's, a local ESSO dealer. I used to go up every week and sit in his car, and pretend to drive it. That was a big thing for me during the war. It kept me connected to my older brothers who were fighting the war for us at home.
My aunts Aldea, Freda and Mina were close to my mother and we saw them quite often, especially the LaPlantes (Aldea). Uncle Jim we saw very infrequently, he lived in Merrimack, Mass, a long distance to travel in those days. I don't remember when I found out Aunt Freda was in a nudist colony. That wasn't talked (about) in front of the children. It had to be somewhere around (when I was) 12, I think, but I'm not certain. Aunt Freda married at least 3 times, maybe 4, I don't know. She was very difficult to keep track of.
Aunt Freda and Aunt Mina married brothers the first time. Aunt Freda (married) Omer Pomerleau and Aunt Mina (married) Freddie Pomerleau. Both of them (Pomerleau men) were alcoholics and physically abused their wives. It was nothing for them to punch their wife in the face with a closed fist. Friday night was payday and then they would be drunk for the weekends generally. I saw a lot of abuse when I was a kid but never in front of my father, for he would have hospitalized them both if he had seen it. Joe Fournier was Aunt Mina's second and last husband.
As far as the children's personality traits, you saw them all as adults and they hadn't changed one bit from childhood. Bill, the oldest more serious, a thinker, planner, ambitious; Cecil quiet, not ambitious, quiet almost sneaky, a little wild, yes, she did run away; Jeannette died at 26 days old; Blanche, just exactly as you knew her - loved to have fun, raise hell and didn't mind getting tilted, but strong, hardworking, frugal and focused; Al was fun loving, a free spirit, friendly but could be very focused when he wanted to be; Rita, serious, shy (she won't admit this) focused, bright, tough and direct; Norman was less serious but not raucous, focused when he was interested, like the USMC but all of them very honest, straightforward, dependable and had their shit together.
Blanche left to be a housekeeper in Mass. when I was born, she was 15. She always liked to say that it was because I was so ugly and she knew that with another mouth to feed that there wouldn't be enough food for her to eat so she had to leave to find a way to eat. Rita can address when Cecile ran away, I wasn't born yet.
As far as my mother and father, the older children don't have a different perspective of my parents, they express it differently. My parents were very loving but my father didn't show it as readily as my mother but it was there. The older children complain that Norm and I got more than they and that is true. When we were born, all the children were gone except Rita, They had more to give us 'cause there was more left over. The one trait I didn't mention of the children is that everyone one of them is an accomplished bull shitter and that is what you heard mostly.
My aunt Aldea's children were Robert, Norman, Emile, Beatrice, Rene, Eleude(Wilfred), Antoinette, Ralph(T-Boy), Olivette, Gertrude and Pauline. She didn't have a Jeannette, my mother did. Emile married a Jeannette, maybe that's who you're thinking of. The boys all play musical instruments, my uncle played the fiddle, and the girls were basically quiet and serene. That's how they were all brought up.
Norm and I didn't have jobs on the farm. We moved from the farm when I was two and Norm was 5. Norm and I both learned to be carpenters from the same guy, Wilfred Mercier, a general contractor. I worked for Wilfred for three years, then Norm came on board after I moved to California and he came back to Maine (after Korea).
I went to Farmington State Teachers College in Farmington with Rita and left after two years and moved in with your folks (Albert and Irene) for l year, then moved to California. I got my degree in Banking and Finance years later, in 1970, through the American Institute of Banking. Then, in 1980 (I) got my masters from the Pacific School of Banking at the University of Washington, Seattle."
Robert Passes
Robert Ronald Gagnon, 78, passed away peacefully at home on April 30th, 2014, surrounded by his children and loved ones. He was born August 29, 1935 in Livermore Falls, the last of eight children of Onesime and Rosa Gagnon. He was baptized at St. Rose of Lima in Jay on September 1st, 1935. He had his Confirmation into the Catholic Church on September 22, 1946. That faith would turn into a deep foundation for his entire life, defining everything that he was. After graduating from Livermore Falls High School in 1953, he attended Farmington State Teacher’s College for two years, before marrying Annette Pomerleau on May 25th, 1957. They would go on to have three children.
After moving to California, Robert was inducted into the Army on June 26th, 1958, serving his country as his brothers had done before him. After returning from his time in the military, he began his career in banking at Security Pacific Bank, where he would eventually rise to become a Senior Vice President. He spent the next thirty years in the industry at various banks in both California and Maine. He remarried on November 19, 1977, to Diann Knutson, and they would go on to have one child, eventually moving back to Maine in 1984. Everyone around him was impacted by his warm personality, love and zest for life, the lessons he taught, the never-ending but always charming stories he told, and his devotion to helping friends and family.
Known affectionately as “Pépère” and “Uncle Bob” to virtually everyone and his family, he leaves a hole that can never be filled by anyone. Universally beloved by his family and friends, he is survived by his sister Rita Fuller of Jay; four children, Cindy Gagnon of CA., Mark Gagnon of CA., Christina Foster and her husband Mike of Gray; and Matthew Gagnon and his wife Erin of VA, two step-children, Erin Smith of Carmel and Wendy Neito and husband Michael of CA., as well as grandchildren, Michael, Annabell, Amelia, Alec and Colleen, and his partner of fourteen years, Sue Violette.
