| Notes |
- Notes from granddaughter Linda CHARRON:
Jessie was born into an upper class family in England. Her father was aforeman at a cotton mill. The family also ran a fish and chip businessfrom the front of their very large home. The older children handed their pay packets over to theirmother and were doled out allowances - so it's not hard to figure out how the family got ahead financially. Jessie's upbringing was very frugal. Food was never wasted. Her mother cookedonly enough for the meal at hand. Plates were dished outand no one thought to ask for seconds. Desserts were mostly custard. Baked goodies were served at tea time. After her marriage, Jessie visited the ARBOUR clan in Victoria Harbour and told her astonished mother of the way the ARBOURs ate. Shetold her that breakfastconsisted of eggs and bacon and fried potatoes. The ARBOURs enjoyed bread fried in bacon fat, and after all that several pies were put on the table. At dinner platters of foodwere heaped and passed along one by one andset in the middle for seconds,sometimes there were two choices of meat and always tortiere (meat pies). Another thing she couldn't get over was that her father-in-law ate preserves from a bowl with a thick slice of home made bread slatheredwith enough butter to do the whole family. In her own household the equivalent would have been a scone set on a plate and a dainty serving spoon in a jam pot. One would only take a teaspoon or so to put on their scone. Auntie Hilda apparently always started off her roasting pot withaquarter pound of butter to make the gravy richer. Jessie's mother was horrified to hear this and warned Jessie not to let them force all this food on her, or she'd turn out like "Aunt Heffy's cow" (whoever thatwas). On the other side of the coin, Bert - possibly to make room in the ARBOUR household- moved into Jessie's married sister's home prior totheir wedding. Perhaps, too, the board money helped Emily and Harry, who were newlyweds.At any rate, Bert worked at MacDonald's printing at the time. Jessie asked him how things were going in his new accomodations. He answered, "Quite well, with the exception of the lunches Emily packed." Jessie was surprised to hear this andasked what was wrong. He said, "Emily forgot to put the meat in my sandwich." Jessie replied, "Didyou not get a banana?" to which Bert replied, "Oh, yes, there was a banana." Jessie laughed and said, "Our family would eat the bread with thebanana and call that lunch" to which Bert replied that he was "going to starve to death!" Jessie, although she served Bert hearty meals of meat and potatoes, always ate in herEnglish-style upbringing. She once said she didn't know what itwasliketo over-eat. She has never been over-weight.
More Notes from Linda CHARRON:
Daughter Gloria was somewhat of a miracle baby. There are almost 10 years between the two girls' births and apparently Joyce's birth was a traumatic one which required surgery later. In an attempt tocorrect some problems, Jessie said they "tied" her stomach muscles (probably "tied upher uterus"). When she got pregnant with Gloria, the doctor told her there was no room for the baby to grow and that she wasn't even to buy adiaper for her, as there was no hope the baby would be born alive. Withthe exception of immediate family, Jessie and Bert told no one she was expecting. Her stomach remained relatively flat so no one guessed. Gloria was delivered by C-section in a horrific bucherous job (as quoted later by granddaughter Linda's doctorwhen she was taken for an examination). Apparentlythey pulled Gloria out, set her on a table, turned their backs on the still infant, and continued to work on Jessie - when loand behold after a few minutes, Gloria let out a howl all on her own. Further to this story is that Jessie was months laying in bed with her stomach sliced wide open, as they were afraid to suture it shut in caseof infection. Her sister Emily couldn't stomach looking at the incision and the doctor warned that it had tobe swabbed several times a day. Bert tended to her in the morning and at night, but when the quandry appeared over which relative could help out to do it once during the day,10-year old Joyce volunteered.Jessie used to cry telling this story- howherlittle girl of 10 would run home every day and spend her lunch hour swabbing out this horrible wound. To date the scar which runs down her entire belly is a jagged one-inch across. The good andthe bad of the entire thing is that 1) Glorialived, and2) my grandmother lived, butthe two never really bonded. Gloria was looked after by Emily and evenas a toddler preferred to be with her than her own mother.
Barrie Examiner (ON) -- 10 Jun 2002
ARBOUR, Jessie -- Peacefully, at the Trillum Manor, Orillia on Sunday, 9 June 2002, Jessie Arbour of
Coldwater, formerly of Barrie, in her 97th year. Wife of the late Herbert "Bert" Arbour. Mother of the late Joyce Dumond of Angus, and Gloria and her husband William Belbeck of Angus. Special grandmother of Linda and her husband Carl Charronof Coldwater, Carol, Darlene, Donna, Sharon, Michael, Christine. Dearly loved by her 13 great-grandchildren, and 5great-great-grandchildren. Special friend of Rose Gurgacz. The late Mrs. Jessie Arbour will be resting at the Coldwater FuneralHome, 22 Sturgeon Bay Road, Coldwater, ON (705-686-3344), on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9pm. A funeral Service will be held at St Matthias Anglican Church, Coldwater on Wednesday, 12 June 2002 at 1:00 pm. Cremation. In memoriam donations to Soldiers' Memorial Hospital Foundation, Orillia, would be appreciated by thefamily.
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On 03 Jul 1933, Jessie and Joyce sailed from Montreal, QC, aboard the Calgaric, landing in Liverpool, England. They were headed for 8 LandseerSt, Oldham, apparently to visit Jessie's family.
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1906 - 2002 (96 ans)