Jennie Desruisseaux and the Capelton kids
Aclean monument always attracts your eyes and invites you to reminisce and appreciate loved ones. Let’s pause on the middle name inscribed on this monument: “Jennie Desruisseaux”.
Her maiden name was Eva Jeanne Clément. She was born July 7, 1891, daughter of Joseph Octave Clément (1868-1897) and Eliza Murtagh (1870-1959). She was one of four children.
On May 10, 1910, she was married to Frederic Desruisseaux from Ascot with the full consent of her parents. She was 19 and he was 49. On top of it, he was a widower with an 18-year-old son, Oscar.
One might be inclined to believe that back then, holy matrimony was a better deal than just hiring a house maid. Frederic died on Dec 14, 1946 and was buried in the Sand Hill Cemetery beside his first wife.
Following Frederic’s death, Jennie was hired by Harry Swenson, a WW2 veteran who lived on the Stanstead Highway (now Rte 143).
Harry had undergone several surgeries because of gangrene from war injuries, which resulted in the amputation of both his legs. Jennie not only cared for his daily needs, but took in three other boarders.
By then, Jennie’s mother Eliza Shallow had come to help her with the household duties while Jennie looked after the outdoor chores. She and her mother were florists; they could arrange any wedding bouquet with whatever fresh flowers and herbs they had on hand. Jennie also went to the Sherbrooke market to sell the wonderful arrangements.
It was around that time, during the 1950s, that the Capelton kids were recruited, for $1 an hour.
Jennie used to hire kids from the Capelton area to help her with hard jobs like weeding, transplanting geraniums, picking vegetables in the garden, hanging out the laundry on the line and other odd jobs. Jennie had arthritis in the hip joints, which gave her a limp and made her unable to bend down.
What intrigued us young Capelton kids was how come she had a French name and spoke such perfect English.
Not only did she constantly correct our English pronunciation, but she continuously recited poems and quotations from famous English literature all by heart.
She was renowned for her talent and was often invited to all kinds of social evenings and events.
What we cherished most about working for her was the lavish home cooked meals served to the whole crew, young and old.
Jennie and her mother used to love correcting our English, specially our intonation and of course, making sure to mind our manners at the table.
Of the utmost importance to Jennie and her mother was maintaining a high level of respect for the royal family, because of their ‘blue blood’.
Harry Swenson (1891-1955) passed away and willed his property to Jennie. She lived to be 88 years old; most of her last 30 years were spent bedridden because of her hip problems.
A long time boarder, Bill Loomis, remained in the house and looked after her care, assisted occasionally by other friends and neighbors.
Bill passed away just one month after Jennie did.
My wife and I were proud to purchase the property. We renovated it and happily made it our home for 20 years before relocating.
As a grateful gesture, I took the initiative of cleaning Jennie’s monument in the Malvern Cemetery, hoping that others will have the heartwarming pleasure of seeing that someone still cares for her.
Jennie, you were so generous, I sometimes wonder if you, too, had blue blood in your DNA.