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- Findagrave Margaret Mary Vandersteen Dandeneau (NO0017446)
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Produced, taken, or possibly captured in: Fisher Branch, North Interlake Census Division, Manitoba, Canada, in or on about: 19 Feb 2018;
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- Josephine Mary (Vandersteen) Tougas (1927) Story (NO0004220)
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Described as: A single page (61) from a much larger work produced by Robert Dwayne Amiot in 2009. It was as accurate as he was able to make it at the time. Knowledge of the family’s history and its composition have, of course, evolved since it was published. Som
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Produced, taken, or possibly captured in: An unknown location, in or on about: 2009;
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- A Place of Our Own - A History of Fisher Branch -- Gerard Dandeneau (1923) and Margaret Vandersteen (1925) Family (NO0003423)
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Described as: A Place of Our Own - A History of Fisher Branch -- The story of the Gerard Dandeneau (1923) and Margaret Vandersteen (1925) family
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;
Produced, taken, or possibly captured in: Manitoba, Canada, in or on about: 1982;
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- Gerard and Margaret Dandeneau Family Story (NO0005904)
Content type: story-([x-inline] internal format: htm)
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Noted by the author as pertaining to events and people living in: An unknown location, in or on about: An unknown date;
This story has been recorded by hand and may or may not be legible here:
<font size="4">Gerard and Margaret DANDENEAU Family</font> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><br> At the time when Gerard and Margaret grew up, it was very hard for young people to get together. There were very few cars and <span>transportation</span> was mainly by horse or bicycle. Week days were a time to work. Sunday you would meet your friends, so it was a special day for many young and old alike. Oftentimes, young men and women would meet their future partner in church, as was their case. Gerard had an eye on Margaret but didn't know how to get the courage to speak to her. </p> </blockquote> <p align="justify"><img src="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Emeilleuro/50862-04.jpg" alt="" hspace="4" vspace="4" width="219" height="251" align="right"></p> <blockquote> <p align="justify">As many may remember, in 1940 John Vandersteen had built a new home and moved his family in that May. Some young boys, including Gerard, his brothers and their friends noticed that there was a nice big field there which would make a perfect ball diamond. At baseball games it was very easy to meet and get to know other young folks, and, of course, to go to the house for a drink of water for, in those days, good cold well water was the thing. </p> <p align="justify">After some time Gerard finally got the courage to ask Margaret out. In June, 1941, he was invited to Jerry Camire and Rita Champagne's wedding, and with the 1928 Pontiac the family had bought he took Margaret to the wedding. </p> <p align="justify">As time went by it was easier to go out, perhaps to a movie once a month and to a few house parties. They had a lot in common and they both loved music. Gerard could play the guitar and the violin a little too. Margaret loved singing but was never fortunate enough to learn to play the guitar. </p> <p align="justify">Gerard spent some time working out, clearing land for neighbours and earning one dollar per day, for mostly twelve-hour days. In 1941, Margaret also worked out, for a family with seven young children, for seven dollars a month. It was a lot of hard work washing clothes on the scrubbing board, scrubbing wooden floors and hauling water from the well for washing, etc. As neither one of their had anymore than a grade eight education, there was no choice but to get the job that was available and close to home. </p> <p align="justify">The war was on and after Prosper and Conrad had enlisted, Gerard was called up, but because his father was crippled and not able to farm, Gerard was permitted to remain at home. Margaret was working at a place which was half a mile away and took time off in the evening to visit the "neighbour". </p> <p align="justify">On November 24, 1943, Gerard and Margaret exchanged vows in the Immaculate Conception Church in Fisher Branch. A wedding party was field in Joseph and Therese Tougas's house. They have many beautiful memories of that day. </p> </blockquote> <p align="justify"><img src="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Emeilleuro/50862-11.jpg" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="250" height="255" align="left"></p> <blockquote> <p align="justify">As Gerard had no house, they resided with his parents and sisters, Therese and Lucie, for two and a half years. Meanwhile their son, Edmond, was born in October, 1944, and Ann Janette in 1945. In 1946 Gerard built his own little home in the same yard in which David, Denis, Therese, Roland and Noella were born. </p> <p align="justify">They have many fond and happy memories of raising their family. As there was no entertainment other than home entertainment, many hours were spent singing and listening to music on the radio, observing the little talents the children had and doing the best they could to raise their family to be respectable citizens. It was a real treat for them to be able to go to the movies once a month, even though they sometimes had to count pennies to pay entry. </p> <p align="justify">It was stressed to the children that money was not happiness. Even though times were very hard, Christmas and Easter were always very special holidays as they all got to go to Grandma and Grandpa Vandersteen's place for a family gathering. Whether they went by car, horses or tractor, no one minded. Sunday was also a treat because they were able to dress up in their best clothes and go to church. </p> <p align="justify">In 1954 Gerard's dad passed away so they, then, moved back to the big (twenty-two feet by twenty-two feet) house. There, Emma and Diane were born, and there they also had the misfortune of losing twin daughters. </p> <p align="justify">In 1968, as the month of' November approached, which would mark Gerard and Margaret's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, the children, without funds of their own, decided to present an evening of musical entertainment in the hope of earning some money which they could then spend to honor their parents on this special occasion. Plans were arcade, a program was prepared and on October 13, 1968, they presented themselves to a crowd of people at the Vidir Hall. The reaction and appreciation by the people surprised and pleased them. The encouragement they received that evening did much to motivate them and was, in reality, the first stepping stone to a musical career that they did not dream of then<span> (see <strong> THE FAMILY SIX</strong>)</span>. In November, a celebration was held and the children were able to present a gift to their parents. Gerard's mother, who was then eighty-five, presented them with a charming silver dollar tree that she had spent many ours painstakingly making. </p> <p align="justify">In addition to working very hard to keep up with the farm work, Gerard took on driving the school bus; he bought his own bus and drove for thirteen years. In this space of time, some of the children were working out and starting their own careers. </p> </blockquote> <p align="justify"><img src="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Emeilleuro/50862-12.jpg" border="2" alt="Jerry Dandeneau en 1998" hspace="4" vspace="4" width="250" height="309" align="right"></p> <blockquote> <p align="justify">At church one Sunday, the priest asked if any family would be willing and able to take a foster child into their home. Margaret and Gerard then got together with their family and talked it over; found room and love in their hearts and home, and applied for a little child. They got their little Nancy, at the age of three and a half years. The many brothers, sisters and relatives soon made her one of their own. She is doing very well in school, is hoping to graduate and make a good life for herself. </p> <p align="justify">Starting in the spring of 1972, they began to build to cozy, modern home they now live in. The entire family pitched in to help, those who were away came home every weekend to assist. They waited until it was completely finished before they moved in. The had their first family meal in their new home on July 7, 1973. Their son, Denis and his wife, moved into the old family home that very day. </p> <p align="justify">As of today (1982), they are both working: Gerard as custodian in the Collegiate, and Margaret, at their son's restaurant. They thank God that they have children who respect and love them. They c<span>a</span>n<span> </span>not express, in words, their feeling of love and admiration for their children and twenty- tow grandchildren and the joy share in their accomplishments. <br> </p> </blockquote> <hr> <p> </p> <strong>Recherche<span> et photos</span> par Simonne Bernier Meilleur, de Fisher Branch MB</strong> <p><strong>Mise à jour le <span> 15 décembre 2005</span> par Paul Meilleur, de Ste-Adèle QC</strong></p><p> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~meilleuro/50771-01.htm </p><p> </p>
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- Obituary - Josephine Mary (Meilleur-Mullen) Vandersteen (1905) (NO0019909)
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File size: 394545 bytes; Image size (pixels): 644 wide by 1185 high
Described as: Obituary for Josephine Mary (Meilleur-Mullen) Vandersteen (1905), as published in the Winnipeg Free Press
The above description may be truncated / shortened from the original;
Produced, taken, or possibly captured in: Winnipeg, Greater Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in or on about: 29 Jan 1997;
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- John Nicholas Vandersteen (1895) and Josephin Mary (Meilleur-Mullen) (1905) - A Family Portrait (NO0004567)
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File size: 63027 bytes; Image size (pixels): 628 wide by 483 high
Described as: John Nicholas Vandersteen (1895) and Josephin Mary (Meilleur-Mullen) (1905) - A Family Portrait;
Taken in: Fisher Branch, Manitoba, Canada, in or on about: Abt. 15 Jul 1951;
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- John Vandersteen Family Story (NO0012436)
Content type: story-([x-inline] internal format: htm)
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Noted by the author as pertaining to events and people living in: Fisher Branch, Manitoba, Canada, in or on about: 1982;
This story has been recorded by hand and may or may not be legible here:
<p>John Nicholas Vandersteen & Josephine Meilleur - October 18, 1923 - married in Fisher Branch by Father Leroux</p><blockquote><p align="justify"><br> John Nicholas Vandersteen was born in the year 1895, in Utrecht, Holland. He started school when he was seven and went until he was thirteen. For the first couple of years he attended Soesterbergse School, and when his family moved to Soest in 1904, he attended a Catholic boy's school. He had to pay five cents a week for schooling and continued his education until he grade six. Later, to help his family, he worked at landscaping, and in a vegetable garden at home. In the winter of 1910, he planted trees along the streets. He was paid one gulden a day for eight to ten hours of work. A gulden has a Canadian value of thirty-three cents.</p><p align="justify">In May 1913, he came to Canada with some friends. He started work in Holland, Manitoba, on a farm, for fifteen dollars a month for the first month, and twenty-five dollars for the second month. He was breaking land with a team of four horses along the Assiniboine River, north of Holland. Then he worked in town helping to build a brick school house. The school is still standing today. The rest of the summer was spent helping farmers stook and thresh. He received one hundred dollars for two months work in harvest time. Then he moved to his fattier's homestead in Fisher Branch on December 30th, 1913.</p></blockquote><p align="justify"></p><blockquote><p align="justify">He and his brothers built a shanty and cut logs for a log house in January. In the month of February he worked at the first saw mill in Hodgson for a wage of fifteen dollars a month. Instead of taking money, he took lumber at eighteen dollars a thousand feet. He worked there for about five weeks and then helped his brothers (Bert and Cornelius) cut logs for two log houses and barns. In April, he walked thirty-five miles to Arborg and took a train from Arborg to Holland, Manitoba. He worked for farmers for seven months at thirty-five dollars a month. He came home to Fisher Branch and helped his parents bullet a log house in May, 1914.</p><p align="justify">During the following four or five years, he cleared land, built barns, and waited two years to get a well dug by a government machine. All these tasks were aiming at a goal: improving the homestead. Meanwhile he had to haul water half a mile.</p><p align="justify">In 1915, he started working out in Holland, Manitoba, and Carnduff, Saskatchewan, threshing, and in 1920 working on the Winnipeg railway, eighty miles south-east of Winnipeg. On his return. he drove his horses back from Winnipeg to home, which took him three days.</p><p align="justify">Josephine was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1905. Because she was the oldest girl in the family, she helped her mother and when she was only twelve years old, her mother died. This left her with the responsibility of looking after the rest of the family.</p><p align="justify">John and Josephine were married in 1923 and left to work in the bush in Minnesota, United States, where he worked at maintenance, putting in ties, etc., for three dollars a day, ten hours a day.</p><p align="justify">On July 31st, Lucy was born, their first child, in Grand Rapids Hospital. In the fall of 1924, they came back to Fisher Branch. He started farming and stayed one winter with his parents, at the same time renting a farm near Marble Ridge. He cut wood in the winter of 1925, hauling it to Hodgson.</p><p align="justify">Margaret was born in 1925.In the same winter, he helped his father-in-law, Bert Meilleur, in the bush for a couple of months.</p><p align="justify">They lived three years on this rented farm, milking four cows all the time. Bert was born in the fall of 1926. In the fall of 1927, they moved to town because Grandma had got hurt. Josephine was born in 1927. That winter he hauled cordwood from ten miles west of Fisher Branch. He worked the summer for a farmer and in the winter he cut brush.</p><p align="justify">In 1929, they moved to Carnduff, Sask. He rented a farm, put in a crop in the spring and worked out part time. This meant that his wife was working in the field and caring for the children, while he worked to provide for the futurity. Johnny was born in April of that year. Everything turned out for the better as the crop was good. There was such a supply of barley that in the winter it was used as fuel for the furnace. At that time people who shipped barley received a bill instead of a cheque.</p><p align="justify">In 1930, they moved to another farm in Carnduff. The summer was spent cutting wood and shearing sheep. They stayed on this farm for two or three years, and in 1931, put in a crop, but they only got five loads of green feed out of it. The "grasshopper years" had begun and there was no rain all summer. In the meantime, Mary was born in July, 1930, and Ben in June, 1932.</p><p align="justify">In 1933, late fall, they moved to Dumus, Saskatchewan. They drove sixty miles with two teams of horses. That winter he cut wood at fifty cents a load. They bought a farm, built a log house and moved in. Eight or ten neighbors helped them to build the house. Each one brought his own pork, beef, potatoes, or whatever, to help make a meal. The following summer (1934) John worked back for the help he had received to build his house.</p><p align="justify">One of his neighbors broke two acres of land for him because all of their own horses had died the first winter they moved to Dumas. There had been no food for them and the winter was cold and harsh.</p><p align="justify">In 1935, John grew a big garden of vegetables and potatoes, shearing sheep in the spring, and peddling the vegetables at a summer resort in White Bear Lake and in the Kanosa Lake. When he was building a log kitchen, in the process of lifting a heavy log over his head, he broke a vein in his stomach. In the fall he worked on the highway for two or three months at a wage of two dollars a day in Caiville. In the winter he cut wood. Another son came along that year, Neil. In 1936, Bill was born, They stayed in Dumas until the spring of 1939, and in May the family moved back to good old Fisher Branch. It took two cars, one belonging to Teddy Caners and the other belonging to Victor Meilleur, to move the family to Fisher Branch. Meanwhile, two trucks also made the trip, transporting the five cows, pony and furniture. They moved into Bocek's place and stayed in the house south of Fisher Branch for one year.</p><p align="justify">They bought a quarter section of land in the fall of 1939, and rented a quarter section of hayland across the road from their home place. In the winter of 1939, he cut cordwood and logs for the sawmill. Once the logs were cut, the neighbors formed a "bee" and hauled the logs to Funk's sawmill at Brown's place, south-east of Hodgson. Eugene LeTexier helped him saw the logs and the same "bee" that hauled the logs also hauled the lumber out. In the spring of 1940, Bert Meilleur, acting as foreman, called neighbors together to build the homestead on the land where Bert and Lea Vandersteen live today. In the summer he cleared ten acres of land, dug seneca roots, and sheared sheep. In the fall he went out harvesting for the neighbors.</p><p align="justify">In 1941, he cleared ten acres of land for Elie Savoie and in return Elie broke land for him. In the winter of 1941-1942 he cleared for Mr. Smith and in return Smith broke ten acres for him. In the spring, digging snake roots and shearing sheep was his main source of income. After he finished breaking land he went harvesting for local farmers. In the winter he cleared land, and cut wood and logs to build a barn.</p><p align="justify">In the spring of 1943 they started to build a big barn, and it was finished in the fall. Elizabeth was born that year.</p><p align="justify">In 1944 a lean-to-kitchen was built onto the house and a well was drilled. In 1945 he went to work out in the fall for the Ontario Hydro, while Johnny and Ben were caring for the cattle and horses. He came back from Ontario in the spring of 1946, and put a down payment on a quarter section of land for my father.</p><p align="justify">Harvey was born in 1944. Dorothy was born in 1949. In the winter of that year he went to work up north in the bush with his son, Bert. In the spring of 1950, they bought a tractor, (which Bert still has today), and a crop was seeded, but unfortunately the crops all froze, and again he decided to clear more land.</p><p align="justify">In 1951 he went up north to cut logs for lumber and plywood. The following spring he helped Johnny build his house. In 1953 he worked at McArthur Falls for the Manitoba Hydro. Johnny was married that year. In 1954 he also worked for Manitoba Hydro.</p><p align="justify">In 1955 he worked at Ear Falls Hydro Plant, fought fire for two weeks and went to Red Lake for his camp he was asked to fetch some water for cooking. He went to a near-by stream and found the water was terribly dirty and unfit for any use. He went back and showed the cook the water, and then told the cook he would find some clear, clean water. He went with a shaped stick on the tips of his fingers with the bottom stem running along the ground. He found a spring with clear, clean water.</p><p align="justify">In 1956, he left there and worked at White-Dog Falls for hydro. He came back to Fisher Branch in March and stayed home for next couple of years, working the land and looking after the cattle. In 1960 Bill was married and he moved onto the homestead. Meanwhile the rest of the family rented Tougas's house on Highway 224. They stayed there a couple of years and he was part of a crew working on three bridges in the Fisher Branch-Hodgson area. The summer of 1962 was spent in Winnipeg caring for a cemetery and doing landscaping work.</p></blockquote><p align="justify"></p><blockquote><p align="justify">In the spring of 1961, they moved to town and John worked for the hospital for four and a half years as caretaker to the grounds and also as part-time caretaker of the high school grounds. In 1964 he took a trip to Holland to see his sister and other friends. In 1965 he had an operation on an ulcer. That year when he turned seventy, he was laid off at the hospital. He helped build three basements in the spring of 1966, and helped to move the houses onto the foundations. The next year he built a greenhouse and since then he has been growing plants and selling them to local customers.</p><p align="justify">Once in town, Josephine got involved in community activities. She was one of the people who organized the Senior Citizens Club, and was their first president.</p><p align="justify">In 1973, John and Josephine celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Their grandchildren - "The Family Six" provided the music. In 1975, he went to British Columbia for a month, and in August of 1976, he went to Montreal and the Maritime Provinces.</p><p align="justify">John Vandersteen died on July 28, 1980. Josephine died on Jan. 27, 1997.</p><p align="justify">The first family reunion for the descendants of John & Josephine Vandersteen is being held in the yard of John Jr. & Claire Vandersteen in Fisher Branch on July 30, 31 & Aug. 1, 1988. Currently John & Josephine have 73 grandchildren & 85 great grandchildren.</p></blockquote><hr><hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"><p> <br> <br> <strong>Recherche et photos par Simonne Bernier Meilleur, de Fisher Branch MB</strong></p><p><strong>Mise à jour le 9 nov 2005 par Simonne Bernier Meilleur, de Fisher Branch MB<br> Mise à jour le 5 jan 2007 par Nico Sukel, d'Utrecht, Holland</strong><strong><br> Mise à jour le 10 février 2011 par Paul Meilleur, de Ste-Adèle QC</strong></p><p><strong>Retour à la Généalogie des PIONNIERS</strong></p><p>http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~meilleuro/02904-01.htm</p>
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Rick Dondo's Family Tree
1925 - 2018 (92 years)
[6, 7, 8, 9] 
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