Euphremie Godin (1868-1953) worked until she was 81 years old!

Marie Euphremie Godin is my Great Great Great Aunt on my Dad's side of the family. She was born in Caraquet, New Brunswick on October 12, 1868. Euphremie was the 9th and last child of Joseph Godin and Tharsile Hache. She would have had many hands taking care of her; her closest sibling was 9 years older than her!

Euphremie attended school and learned to read,write and speak English and French. She would have been in school during the 1875 Caraquet riots; a clash over the Common Schools Act elimination of religious education in New Brunswick. That must have been a scary time for her as it happened right in her community, in fact only 18 houses away!

When Euphremie was in her 20's (1891to 1901) she (and her mother & father) lived with her sister, Mathilde, and her family. Sometime between 1901 and 1911 she  began living and working as a servant at the college Sacre-Coeur de Caraquet, located across from the parish church, St-Pierre-aux-liens, in the Village of Caraquet, N.B.

collège Sacré-Coeur de Caraquet
Image obtained April 28, 2018 from https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5rv1lsh4V1ryl6jko1_500.jpg

She probably worked there until it was destroyed by fire  December 30-31, 1915 (rebuilt in Bathurst). Hopefully she was visiting with family for the holidays and not in the building during the fire.

After the fire, she began working as a housemaid for the parish. She continued to work as a housekeeper and cook for the parish until she was 81 years old. Her last years were most likely spent in the care of her great niece Julie (Mathilde's granddaughter). She suffered from chronic bronchitis and died of bronchial pneumonia on October 13, 1953 one day after her 85th birthday.